


The Reality of Change

by midnight_vision



Series: when peace is found [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin is still a mess, Established Relationship, F/M, M/M, Obi-Wan is awkward with relationships but he's trying, Padmé and Ahsoka are good friends, Polyamory, Time Travel Fix-It, the Jedi Order is in major need of reform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:52:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 185,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnight_vision/pseuds/midnight_vision
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Padmé dies on Mustafar and wakes up in the past, about a year before everything falls apart. She’s determined to make sure none of it happens again, and with some help, she tries to expose Palpatine for what he really is. But even if Anakin and the Republic can be saved, that doesn’t mean life will be easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor content warning for a very brief mention of the loss of a baby.

Padmé was empty inside. She’d done enough crying to last her a lifetime, and it was like her emotions had escaped through her final tears. Everything had gone so horribly wrong, more than she could have imagined, not that she had thought Anakin would fall. How could she ever think that of her husband, the father of their child? It was too much to process fully, and that child was the only thing keeping her from falling apart. It gave her something else to focus on.

Glancing at Obi-Wan, Padmé winced slightly. He used to joke that Anakin made him age prematurely, and now he looked as though he’d aged ten years.

Obi-Wan had pleaded with the Council to back down from their foolish spy plot. He’d even asked her to talk to Anakin so that he’d know Obi-Wan really was on his side, but Palpatine had poisoned his mind to such an extent that Anakin didn’t trust Obi-Wan anymore. He hadn’t even asked Obi-Wan for help with his nightmares about her death. She had to be the one to tell him why Anakin was so on edge. Truly, it seemed like Anakin didn’t even love him anymore.

She wasn’t sure if Anakin was capable of love, after everything he’d done.

Banishing the horrors from her mind, she finally got up from the copilot’s chair. That finally snapped Obi-Wan out of whatever half-meditative state he was in, and he jumped up to her side. She was very pregnant after all.

“Are you—”

Padmé could tell he almost asked if she was alright. What a stupid question.

“You should lie down,” he said instead. “It will still be some hours before we reach Mustafar.”

She waved him off. “I’m fine. I just need to stretch a little.”

Obi-Wan only stood there, helpless and in desperate need of a distraction.

“What’s our plan?” she asked. “We don’t even know what he’s doing there.”

“Slaughtering the Separatists, most likely.”

His matter-of-fact tone should have disturbed her, but she figured this was how he was choosing to cope with his trauma. His entire world had come crashing down on him. Everything and everyone he’d ever cared about was gone, save for herself. She briefly wondered what he would do if he lost her as well.

“So what are we going to do when we get there?”

Obi-Wan looked at the floor for a moment, his shoulders sagging. “I suppose,” he said slowly, “that you should go out to meet him first. He still trusts you. If that that doesn’t work, I’ll come out and do whatever needs to be done.”

“What do you mean ‘whatever needs to be done’?” Scowling at him, Padmé fisted her hands in the front of his robe. “Obi-Wan, I know you still love him. We have to try to talk him down. You can’t kill him!”

His head snapped up, and there was a bit of his own anger in those blue eyes, but it was muted. “I don’t want to kill him, Padmé. I don’t doubt that it will come to a fight, though, and I will do all that I can to merely incapacitate him.”

She stared at him, hearing the pain in his voice, and her anger was gone with an exhale. She rested her head on his shoulder, still holding onto his robe, and he eventually brought his arms up to embrace her. They stood there like that until she felt the baby kick. Backing away from him, Padmé put a hand on her stomach and asked quietly, “What are we going to do about the baby?”

Obi-Wan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “It will still have at least one father, assuming Anakin doesn’t kill me.”

It was the first time either of them had said his name since boarding the ship. Hearing it then, especially in that context, was like a blaster bolt to the heart. It was obvious Obi-Wan wasn’t as optimistic about bringing Anakin back to the light, but seeing the bodies of younglings would do that.

“I think I’ll . . . go lie down for a bit,” Padmé said, avoiding eye contact.

She didn’t mean to fall asleep. She had to have, though, because she closed her eyes for what she swore was just a second, and when she opened them, Obi-Wan was standing over her, saying that they’d arrived. He helped her to her feet, and her stomach did a series of flips that almost had her running to the fresher. She wanted to blame it on the baby, but she knew it was the thought of facing Anakin.

He rested a hand on her cheek. “You don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do, Obi-Wan. I have to try.”

Taking a deep breath, Padmé walked over to the ramp and hit the button to lower it.

She wasn’t prepared for the heat. It took her a minute to stop choking on the thick air, and her eyes stung in a very different way than they had hours earlier. Looking around, all she saw were a few buildings and a river of lava far down below. Then she noticed movement.

It was him.

Schooling her features into something vaguely happy, she ran up to him. Anakin embraced her tightly, mindful of her swollen belly, and she tried not to think about what he smelled like.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Anakin murmured as he cupped her face in his hands.

“I needed to see you.” At least that wasn’t a lie. “Everything has . . . Everything has changed so quickly.” Padmé kept her eyes locked onto his, watching for any sign of danger. “I’ve heard awful things about what happened at the Temple.” Padmé had naively hoped she’d see regret at saying that. Instead, his expression was blank. “They’re all dead, Anakin.”

“I know.”

His voice nearly made her forget about the heat, and it took all of her willpower to stay standing. Padmé waited for him to say more, but he was just staring at her, rubbing his thumb over her cheekbone.

“What did you do?” she whispered.

“I brought peace to the galaxy, Padmé. The war is finally over.” He let go of her and became animated, pacing back and forth, a smile on his face that made the nausea come back full-force. “We can raise our child together out in the open, no more hiding. We can spend all our time together now since I won’t be going off-world anymore. I’ll let you continue being a senator, though.”

“How _gracious_ of you,” she said with more venom than she meant to.

That made him stop, and he narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s wrong? You’re angry. Why are you angry? Isn’t this everything that you wanted?”

Padmé was left blinking at him in stunned silence. Was he truly that far gone?

He rushed at her, his grip on her shoulders bordering on painful. “What is it? Why have you come here, Padmé?” He shook her once. “Tell me the truth!”

“Let her go, Anakin!”

Padmé turned and saw that Obi-Wan was standing at the end of the ramp. She had failed, but she suddenly realized that she never had a chance. It was already too late.

“You!” Anakin bellowed. “You’ve turned her against me!”

Quickly backing away, now that his attention was no longer on her, she looked at Obi-Wan and pleaded with her eyes not to do it. A fight will surely mean death for one of them, and even after everything, she couldn’t bear to lose either of them.

“I have not,” Obi-Wan replied as he shed his robe. “You’ve done that all on your own.”

Anakin stared at him, his cybernetic hand clenching into a fist. “Leave now, and I’ll spare you.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”

She didn’t think Anakin could hear the sorrow in Obi-Wan’s voice. He only called his lightsaber to his hand and ignited it while Obi-Wan did the same. Seconds later, beams of blue energy were swinging and clashing, making sounds that Padmé could no longer stand. She ran toward them, shouting, but she was thrown back violently when Anakin stretched out a hand, not even turning to look at her. The impact brought a bright flash of pain and then darkness.

Padmé opened her eyes.

She sat up quickly, her hands clenching . . . a sheet? Startled, Padmé looked down and realized that she was in a bed, in her bed in her Coruscant apartment. Even more worrying, she wasn’t pregnant. Panic made her breath quicken as she pat her stomach like she could somehow find the missing baby. Then the bed rocked slightly, and her head whipped to the side to find Anakin squinting up at her with bleary eyes.

Before he could say a word, she jumped out of the bed and ran to the fresher. The nausea she’d been feeling in her dream had become a reality, and she vomited into the toilet. _That was a dream, right?_ The vividness of it disoriented her for a moment.

“Hey, are you alright?” Anakin asked from the doorway.

Padmé flinched, hoping he wouldn’t come any closer. “I’m-I’m okay. I must’ve eaten something that didn’t agree with me.” She could feel him hovering. “Really, I’m fine. Go back to bed.” _Please just get away from me._

He hesitated before saying, “Call if you need anything.”

“Sure.”

It was only a dream, a very long one. It felt like a year’s worth of events that she could remember with too much clarity had been crammed into her head. She had never remembered a dream that well before. She didn’t even know what day it was, which was ridiculous, but she couldn’t ask Anakin. Padmé didn’t even want to look at him, and that was just irrational. He hadn’t done anything. He hadn’t committed mass murder or turned to the dark side.

It took her longer than she’d like to admit to go back to bed, and her sleep after that was fitful.

The morning was worse. Padmé tried her best to act normal around him, but she could tell he noticed something wasn’t right. The dream had shaken her so much that even the acting skills she learned before taking the throne were failing her. Thankfully, he had to be at the Temple early.

“I’ll try to see you tonight, but if I can’t get away, don’t be too sad.”

“What?”

“I’m on leave, remember?” He gave her an odd look. “Like a prize for saving the Chancellor’s life on Naboo.”

Chancellor . . . Naboo . . . She couldn’t place it. Why couldn’t she remember what day it was?

“Padmé, are you sure you’re—”

“I’m _fine_ , Anakin. I have to get ready for work.”

She didn’t mean to snap at him, but she was tired and frustrated. He seemed to take it in stride, though. After all, he had a politician for a wife, and a politician’s life was never stress-free. At least she didn’t flinch when he gave her a peck on the cheek.

On her way to her office, she found out that it was a few days after Palpatine was captured by Dooku on Naboo. She remembered pretending to be horrified at Obi-Wan’s appearance once he got his own face back before laughing at him along with Anakin. He looked so strange bald and clean shaven, and Padmé was grateful that hair growth drugs existed. She was even more grateful that Obi-Wan had told Anakin to clue her in on the Rako Hardeen plot. While her relationship with him was still somewhat new, she would have been furious at him for allowing her to believe he was dead.

Feeling better after getting a firm grasp of the timeline, she tried her best to forget the dream and get on with her day. Threepio brought her the agenda and a glass of water, but as soon as she saw what bills were being considered, she called him back over.

“These bills were already passed.”

“I beg your pardon? Did I give you the wrong agenda, Mistress Padmé?”

She looked at the date. “No, you didn’t, but I _know_ these bills were passed. The one about Carida passed by a single vote. I remember because a fight nearly broke out afterwards.”

“I’m afraid I . . . don’t know what to say to that.”

Padmé shook her head and told him not to worry. It wasn’t like it would actually happen.

Except that it did. Three senators had to be escorted out, and the Senate almost couldn’t get back on track, but she barely paid attention. Instead, Padmé sat there in muted shock. For the rest of the day, she had a sense of déjà vu and was left wondering if her dream was some kind of premonition. That didn’t sound right, though, because she’d never heard of one being that long and detailed. Obi-Wan complained once about his occasional premonitions being so vague that he didn’t understand what the point of them was. Padmé wished she could ask him about it, but she remembered that he was away on an emergency mission and was out of contact.

She really hoped it was just a bizarre dream because if it wasn’t, then the Republic would fall and so would Anakin.

\------

Ahsoka did enjoy being on leave, but she never actually knew what to do with herself when she wasn’t fighting. A small part of her grieved for the lost way of Jedi life, when they were peacekeepers instead of soldiers. She hadn’t experienced that herself, but she’d heard stories from Knights and Masters. She knew not all Jedi agreed with their role in the war, and she wasn’t really sure how she felt about it since it was all she’d known after becoming a Padawan. Anakin didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he wished they did more than just what the Senate told them to do. After the whole Zygerrian affair, he told her in a rare moment of opening up that his childhood dream was to free all of the slaves. Then he learned that the Jedi didn’t really care about slaves. Ahsoka thought that was a little harsh, but she understood why he’d come to that conclusion. Thinking back to their second mission together, she felt a little sick to her stomach that he was made to help a _slaver_.

If there was anyone Ahsoka could talk to about conflicted feelings regarding the war, it was Padmé. She hadn’t seen the senator in a while, and even if she was too busy to talk, maybe Ahsoka could help her. She needed _something_ to do that wasn’t sparring.

After Threepio announced her arrival, Padmé stood and walked over to her, embracing her in a way only Master Plo did when no one was looking. “I hope I’m not interrupting,” Ahsoka said as they parted.

“Nonsense.” Padmé’s smile was bright, but her eyes looked troubled. “I was just about to order lunch. You want some?”

“Sure! I could really go for food that’s not from the commissary.” The food at the Temple wasn’t awful, but it’d been the same four choices for the past year. Between that and the ration bars out on the front, she was dying for something different.

While they waited for the food to be delivered, Ahsoka told her all the embarrassing things Anakin had done since the last time they spoke. She even had a few embarrassing stories about Obi-Wan. Padmé had a nice laugh, and it always made Ahsoka feel a little lighter, but it sounded different today.

Once Ahsoka had finished her noodles, she asked gently, “Is something wrong?”

Padmé hesitated and looked down at her bowl. “Have you ever had a dream that felt so real you almost swore it actually happened?”

“Not really, which is definitely a good thing since most of my dreams are nightmares.” She shrugged at Padmé’s obvious concern. “War will do that.”

Padmé stirred her noodles around for a bit before giving up on them and placing her hands in her lap. Then she told Ahsoka about the strangest dream she had ever heard of. It was a year’s worth of war and politics in vivid detail, and some of it had actually come true. Ahsoka couldn’t help but feel like Padmé was leaving out something important, though.

“You probably think I’m crazy for even questioning it,” Padmé said with what sounded like a forced laugh.

“Not at all. I agree that it doesn’t sound like a premonition, but I can try looking it up in the Archives. I mean, it’ll only be in relation to Force-sensitives, but it’s worth a shot.”

Padmé looked somewhat hopeful. Then she sat up a little straighter. “Just to erase any doubt, I remember that around this time, there was a major accident at one of the shipyards on Kuat. Hundreds of people lost their lives, and a Jedi Cruiser was destroyed. I remember thinking that the loss of life could have been far worse considering how much damage was done. And then there was the speculation that it was actually a Separatist attack. The topic was discussed in the Senate and on the HoloNet for weeks.”

Ahsoka nodded slowly. _That’s really specific._

When Ahsoka was about to leave, Padmé thanked her for taking her seriously, and she suggested they exchange comm frequencies for the sake of convenience. Ahsoka felt somewhat honored that Padmé trusted her enough to tell her about it, especially since it seemed like she hadn’t even told Anakin.

In the Archives, Ahsoka was overwhelmed by the amount of information on dreams, but most of it was philosophical gibberish. She asked Master Nu for help, and they were able to narrow it down a little. However, after a few hours of research, Ahsoka had found nothing that sounded remotely like what Padmé experienced. Thanking Master Nu on her way out, Ahsoka was at a loss for what to do next. She supposed she could ask Master Yoda, but he’d know right away that it was Padmé’s dream she was describing since it wasn’t like Ahsoka spoke with a lot of non-Jedi. She’d heard him and Master Windu mention that Anakin was a little too close to the senator, so they probably assumed Ahsoka was friends with her as well. Something told her that Padmé wouldn’t appreciate Master Yoda’s involvement anyway.

 “Hey, Snips.” Anakin was walking toward her, his shoulders slumped a bit.

“Master.” She nodded in greeting. “You look terrible.”

He snorted. “Thanks. You look like you want to punch something.” He raised an eyebrow. “Or maybe someone?”

“No, I just spent hours in the Archives and have nothing to show for it.”

“Oh, so you didn’t hear then.”

From his tone, it didn’t sound like good news. Did they suffer a major loss in a battle? “Hear about what?”

“What happened on Kuat. There was some kind of massive explosion, and they lost a Cruiser. No word yet on the number of casualties, though.”

Ahsoka stopped breathing. It wasn’t that she hadn’t believed Padmé, but she’d been hoping for some explanation that didn’t sound as ridiculous as “she’s from the future” because that was the only thing Ahsoka could come up with. Padmé had even said that it felt like she’d actually _lived_ it, not just dreamed it. But time travel? That wasn’t possible, right?

“Snips? Ahsoka, are you okay?”

She snapped out of it. “Yeah, sorry. I’m just tired.”

“I bet. The only person I know who looks refreshed after doing research is Obi-Wan.”

Ahsoka huffed out a laugh and walked passed him, saying she was going to lie down for a bit. She could feel his concern through their bond, but she was thankful that he was giving her some space. She’d had words with him the last time he’d noticed something was bothering her. Sometimes, Anakin cared a little too much, and it could be suffocating.

She decided she was going to take a nap, eat dinner, and then comm Padmé and try to figure out what the hell was going on.

\------

When Padmé saw the news about Kuat, she was absolutely certain that the “dream” was not a dream at all. She died and woke up in the past. She said it out loud just to see if it sounded as crazy as she thought it did, but she knew it was the truth. Everything from the last two days had felt familiar in a way she couldn’t describe. Padmé had never expected her exceptional memory to be useful for knowing what was going to happen for the next year.

What was going to happen . . .

She tried her best to ignore the growing horror as flashes of smoke rising from the Temple, senators cheering for the loss of democracy, and dark eyes full of contempt flashed across her mind. It slowly became too much, and she decided to call it a day and head home. She didn’t even have the stomach for dinner a few hours later.

What was she going to do? The Republic was being run by a _Sith Lord_. The entire war was a farce. At least since none of that was actually news to her, she didn’t get too emotional about it. She’d already gone through the stages of anger and despair. She had just been hoping all of it had been a dream she could brush off. But she realized that the fall of the Republic wasn’t supposed to happen for another year. There was time to change it all. Padmé wasn’t sure what she could do on her own, but maybe with Ahsoka’s help, they could think of something. That meant she’d have to tell her the ugly truths she had kept to herself earlier. She didn’t want to think about how heartbroken Ahsoka would be to learn about not only the betrayal of her friend and the Council but of Anakin as well. She’d also know what monstrous things he was capable of doing.

As if on cue, Anakin appeared on her veranda. Looking at him, she could only think about the fact that he _killed_ her. As he walked up to her, arms held out to embrace her, Padmé put a hand up to stop him. “I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well tonight, so I’ll make terrible company.” That technically wasn’t a lie.

“Are you sick? Can I get you anything? I can give you a foot rub if that’ll help.”

Sometimes, Anakin could be so sweet. It was jarring to look at him and know that he’d kill a room full of younglings one day. _No, that’s not fair. It’s not inevitable._

“Thank you, but no. I think I’m just going to go to bed early and hope that the extra sleep will take care of whatever this is.”

His face fell slightly before he covered it up with a too-bright smile. “Okay. Don’t hesitate to comm me if you need anything, even if it’s in the middle of the night.”

She couldn’t help but smile back at him. “I have people who can do that for me, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, the look on his face reminding her of when he was a boy.

It only took a few more minutes to convince him to leave, and when he finally did, Padmé realized that her chest had felt tight the entire time he was there. How long would it take to trust him again?

Her comlink went off, and she was relieved to find out that it was Ahsoka.

_“You really aren’t crazy, not that I thought you were before.”_

“I almost wish I was. There are . . . certain events I left out that you should know. Can you meet me tomorrow, same time?”

_“No problem. I can bring food.”_

“I think you’ll want an empty stomach.”

There was silence for a moment before she said quietly, _“So it’s that bad.”_

“It’s worse, but I’m hoping that the two of us can make sure none of it happens.”

Because if it did, the entire galaxy was doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first time I’ve written something in two years and the first time I’ve posted something in over five years, so I'm a little rusty. I got bitten by the writing bug one day, and I’ve been going nonstop for the past month. I love the time travel trope, and I wanted to write something about Padmé being the only one to go back. I actually have over 30,000 words of this written already with quite a bit more planned out. I’ll probably update once a week unless I really start to struggle. (I always like to stay ahead of updates.)
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos! I was only expecting to get maybe 10 at most, so I’m blown away by the actual number.

Ahsoka couldn’t stop yawning. After what Padmé had told her the previous night, she had trouble falling asleep, her mind constantly coming up with possible scenarios. The one she kept coming back to was that they lost the war and the galaxy was then ruled by the Sith, making the Jedi criminals to be hunted down like animals. That was rather extreme, though.

Padmé looked like she didn’t get much sleep either. She gestured to the sitting area and then frowned at the floor as if trying to decide where to start.

A thought struck Ahsoka. “You _did_ have your office checked for bugs, right?”

She gave her a small smile. “I have a jammer running at all times, so don’t worry. Whatever we say in here, stays in here.”

Ahsoka nodded, feeling a bit silly for having questioned her. Padmé was a senator with numerous enemies, some of whom have tried to have her killed. Of course such security measures would be in place.

“I guess I’ll just get to the point. The Republic fell, but not because we lost the war. The war was completely fabricated from the beginning.” She took a deep breath and looked Ahsoka in the eye. “Palpatine is a Sith Lord.”

Oh . . . So her worst guess wasn’t _too_ far off.

“He claimed that the Jedi tried to take over the Republic and deemed them all traitors. The clones, they turned on the Jedi and slaughtered them. I saw the smoke rising from the Temple the next morning.” Her eyes looked wet, but she blinked a few times and carried on. “Palpatine turned the Republic into what he called the ‘Galactic Empire’ and named himself its Emperor. The Senate responded by cheering. Every-everything had been planned out. It had to have been! It all fell into place so easily. I don’t . . . My knowledge of what happened that day is limited. Obi-Wan only told me so much, but what he did tell me was—Ahsoka.” Padmé took Ahsoka’s hands in her own. “You’re not going to want to hear this, but you _must_ know. Anakin fell to the dark side.”

Ahsoka yanked her hands back. That single statement made it all too much to bear because even if the Republic fell, even if the Jedi became “criminals” in the eyes of the law, she knew they’d all have a chance if Anakin was with them.

There was a lump in her throat as she swallowed, and her eyes burned. Everything they’d been fighting for was a lie.

“Obi-Wan saw the security holos at the Temple. Anakin killed the Jedi with the clone troopers. He even killed the younglings.” Padmé sounded hollow as she spoke, like she had processed it all long ago and could no longer feel the emotions that were surging through Ahsoka. “Then he knelt before Palpatine.”

She was going to be sick.

“I don’t remember how I died. All I know is that I felt immense pain, and then I woke up here.”

Ahsoka knew she was lying, but she wasn’t about to push the issue. Instead, they sat in silence. It took longer than normal for Ahsoka to control her breathing, but when she finally did, she slouched in her seat and let a few tears roll down her cheeks. They all died. And for what?

Padmé relaxed a bit and gave her a rueful smile. “I may as well tell you that we’re married.”

That got her sitting up straight again. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Anakin and I. We got married right after the war started.”

She smiled, wiping away the remnants of her tears. “Okay, I knew something was going on between the two of you, but married? And for that long?”

“Sorry, we wanted to tell you, but it wouldn’t have been fair to ask you to keep such a secret.”

At least that piece of information wasn’t heartbreaking, which was probably why Padmé told her. She latched onto it like it was a flotation device in the middle of a turbulent sea. “Wait, what about Obi-Wan? He doesn’t know, right?”

Padmé laughed as her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. “Obi-Wan found out when he and Anakin finally got together. He didn’t take it well at first—that we were married, not the fact that we were in love—but he got over it. Now, the three of us are in a relationship.”

It was like mini explosions were going off in Ahsoka’s head, and all she could do was stare. At least it made sense why Obi-Wan hadn’t been so uptight lately. Plus, she’d thought Anakin generally seemed happier. She wondered when the two of them actually did get together. They still fought all the time, but there was a sort of warmth underneath the petty arguments. It was too bad she couldn’t tease them about it since she wasn’t supposed to know.

That was when it hit her. How was she going to face Anakin when she knew that he was going to slaughter his own kind, including the younglings? How could she smile at a man who was really just a monster in waiting? How could she fight beside him in a war that was fabricated by the very person he would one day call “Master”?

The upbeat effect of learning about their relationships had faded away and was replaced by the despair she felt earlier. She was going to need some time to think, to get to the point where Padmé was so that she could help her in changing the future, if it even could be changed.

“I know this is a lot to take in, Ahsoka. It was for me, too. If you don’t want any part in my plan to fix this—”

“No!” She winced at how loud that came out. “I _definitely_ want to help. Just-just give me a day to think things through.”

“Of course.” Padmé leaned over and rested her hand on Ahsoka’s shoulder. “And I’ll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.”

\------

Padmé was avoiding him. While it was obvious she really hadn’t been well the night she threw up, it felt like she had lied to him last night, like she just didn’t want him around. But why? Had he done something to upset her? Anakin never knew how to handle those types of situations. He desperately wanted to talk to Obi-Wan, but he was still out of contact.

Anakin made up his mind. He was going to ask her what was wrong and not leave until he got an answer. When he reached her apartment, there was still light lingering in the sky. He usually waited until a bit later to visit since there would be less of a chance of someone seeing him, but he didn’t have the patience. He needed to know why she was avoiding him as soon as possible.

He found her in the kitchen, rummaging through one of the cabinets.

“Padmé.”

She jumped and spun around, eyes wide. Leaning against the counter, she put a hand to her chest. “Anakin, you know I hate it when you do that.”

“I’m sorry.” He gave her his best apologetic smile. “Can we talk?”

Padmé looked at him in what he could only describe as wariness. “Right now isn’t a good time.”

“Well, when _will_ it be a good time?” he nearly shouted. He didn’t mean to be angry, but he couldn’t help it. “Something’s wrong, and you’re not telling me what it is. What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” Her voice was soft, and she was looking around the room as if trying to locate the nearest exits. “Please calm down, Anakin.”

“I _am_ calm,” he huffed. Why was she acting so strangely? “Just talk to me, Padmé. Why have you been avoiding me?”

Padmé slowly walked toward the doorway closest to her, never taking her eyes off of him. “I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“Yes, you have!”

She froze.

That was when he realized that she was afraid of him, that ever since he raised his voice the first time, she’d been terrified. He was so used to her answering his anger with her own, so how could he not notice? He even felt it in the Force, and its weight made it hard to breathe.

Taking a step back, he held out a hand in a placating manner, but that just made it worse somehow. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to yell.” He was trying not to panic. “I just-I want to spend time with you, and it’s like you can’t even be bothered to see me. I only want to understand why.”

Padmé still hadn’t moved.

He backed up slowly, his mind racing. “This isn’t a good time. I’ll-I’ll leave.” And with that, he bolted.

\------

Padmé waited a few minutes to make sure he was actually gone before she took a deep, shaky breath, willing herself to calm down. She was still seeing flashes of Mustafar. It didn’t matter that she knew the differences were enormous. His anger and body language brought those horrible memories back. She even felt the phantom pain of her death, no matter that it couldn’t have lasted longer than two seconds. Tears pricked at the backs of her eyes, but she hadn’t cried since waking up in the past, and she wasn’t about to cry now.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth, but she knew they couldn’t keep going on like that. She’d just have to come up with something believable and hope that her obvious fear of him would be enough to keep his anger at bay.

Her appetite gone, Padmé left the kitchen and went straight to her bedroom, even though she wasn’t going to be falling asleep anytime soon. She plopped down at her vanity, wondering when it had become so cluttered, and caught sight of herself in the mirror. The face that stared back didn’t look like her own. Padmé was used to stress, so why was it taking such a toll on her? Could it be because it was so personal? Her own husband had betrayed her, had _killed_ her, and the man who had once mentored her was pure evil. In fact, it wasn’t out of the question to think that Palpatine had something to do with the Invasion of Naboo. If Padmé focused on it all for too long, it felt like her throat was closing up.

The only thing she could do was dedicate her time to making sure the future as she’d lived it was changed for the better, no matter what it took.

\------

Ahsoka wondered if anyone thought it was strange that she was visiting Padmé three days in a row. Maybe no one was even paying attention. Jedi did tend to fade into the background on Coruscant. Ahsoka felt more at peace with what Padmé had told her, but there was one question that hadn’t even occurred to her at the time. Where was she in all that mess? Did she die in the Temple? Or was she on a solo mission and got blasted by her own troopers? Padmé probably didn’t know, but she had to ask anyway.

“Good morning, Ahsoka,” Padmé said with a weak smile. “I haven’t been sleeping well, so I know I look awful.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look _awful_.” Ahsoka didn’t get a good night’s rest either, but at least she was used to it. She sat down in the chair in front of Padmé’s desk like a proper guest as she didn’t intend on staying long. “I have a question for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. Go ahead.”

“Where was I when the Temple was attacked?”

That was clearly not what Padmé was expecting. She sighed. “Do you really want to hear more bad news?”

“How much worse can it get?”

Padmé looked up in thought before nodding. “True. What I’ve already told you is the worst of it, but to answer your question, I don’t know.” Ahsoka was about to say that she figured as much, but Padmé held up a finger to stop her. “I don’t know because you left the Order quite some time before all that happened.”

Padmé told her about the Temple bombing, the murder of the culprit that was falsely blamed on Ahsoka, her expulsion from the Order, and her sham of a trial. Ahsoka sat there in shock as she listened. She couldn’t believe the Council would do that. They’d essentially washed their hands of her because that was what the Senate wanted, or more precisely, what Tarkin wanted. Ahsoka remembered Tarkin. She didn’t like him then, and she _really_ didn’t like him now.

But then Padmé said who had set her up. That feeling of misery returned with a vengeance, but Ahsoka vowed to speak with Barriss the second she got back from her mission. There was no way she’d let her friend make such a horrible mistake. She just wished Padmé knew why Barriss had framed her. But Ahsoka understood why she decided not to rejoin the Order when they invited her back.

“I’m sorry,” Padmé said at the end.

Ahsoka shook her head. “Don’t be. Thank you for acting as my defense. I wonder if Palpatine was actually the one behind the push to expel me.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. He probably wanted you out of the picture so that he could start isolating Anakin.” She folded her hands on her desk, looking every bit the noble senator. “We need to find a way to expose him. I’ll do what I can from within the Senate, but I’d also like the enlist the help of Bail Organa. I won’t tell him the truth, just that I suspect Palpatine is committing treason against the Republic.”

“Is it treason in itself to even suggest that?”

“Not in a democracy, it isn’t. Bail is on our side, trust me. There were a lot of senators toward the end who didn’t like what Palpatine was doing.”

That was somewhat reassuring, even though it obviously hadn’t made a difference. Ahsoka had no objections against Bail helping out since he always struck her as one of the few senators who actually tried to do good. Plus, Obi-Wan liked him, and he had made his general distaste of politicians known to any who would listen. Obviously, that had also excluded Padmé.

“And I want to tell Obi-Wan once he returns.”

Ahsoka furrowed her brow. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. He’ll probably just blame himself for everything that happened.”

“What if I just don’t tell him about Anakin turning to the dark side?”

Ahsoka supposed that’d be good enough. Why would Obi-Wan take personal responsibility for the fall of the Republic if he didn’t think Anakin was involved? She nodded her approval.

“Okay, then the two of you can focus on the Sith aspect while Bail and I focus on the political aspect.”

“Sounds good to me.” Ahsoka got up from the chair. “Now that we’ve got that settled—”

“Actually, I was wondering if you’ve seen Anakin since last night.” There was something about her expression that made Ahsoka’s heart ache. “He knows I’ve been trying to avoid him, and when he got angry, I . . . reacted in a way that frightened him.”

Ahsoka winced. “I’ve been avoiding him, too, so I haven’t seen him.” She sat back down and looked at the desk. “I’m trying not to judge him for things he hasn’t even done. I really am. And then I start wondering what happened to the other Jedi. If the clone troopers on Coruscant turned against the Jedi, what about the troopers who were off-world?”

“Obi-Wan said his battalion had turned on him while he was on Utapau,” Padmé said quietly. “One minute, Cody was giving him his lightsaber back after he’d dropped it, and the next, they were trying to shoot him down. It didn’t make any sense.”

Ahsoka had been trying not to think about the clones she knew best. Was it the 501st that attacked the Temple since Anakin was there? Had Rex turned traitor, too? She clenched her fists in her lap and willed the thoughts away. “None of it ultimately matters since it hasn’t happened, and we’ll make sure that it won’t.”

Padmé smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, we will.”

\------

Falling into her desk chair, Padmé had the sudden urge to yank her hair free of its confines. It’d been a long day, but not the longest by far. Thankfully, the talk with Bail had went smoothly since he was more than willing to believe that Palpatine was up to something. Padmé knew he’d be on their side, even without having all the facts, because Palpatine had done enough by that point in the timeline to make certain people suspicious. He suggested bringing Mon Mothma into their investigation, but the less people involved the better. It would remain the four of them, Padmé and Bail using their senatorial privileges to access information that could hopefully lead to incriminating evidence against the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka using their status as Jedi to look up whatever they could about the history of the Sith or any other information that might be useful. Granted, she still had to talk to Obi-Wan, but she had no doubt that he’d help them. Padmé could tell Bail almost asked why Anakin wasn’t included in their act of “treason,” and she wondered if he had stopped himself because her expression shifted at the mention of his name. She really needed to settle things with Anakin. She couldn’t let fear rule her life.

Padmé nearly fell asleep during the short ride to her apartment. Really, it had been a struggle to stay awake the entire day. She made a mental note to drink some of that special tea Obi-Wan had given to her. He’d said that it helped to soothe troubled sleep. Clearly, ignoring the issue wasn’t working.

Something felt off about her apartment the second she stepped inside. She had it routinely checked for bombs, so it couldn’t be that. It wasn’t until she found Anakin sitting on her balcony that she relaxed somewhat. When he saw her, he met her eyes only once before staring at the floor. Padmé knew she wasn’t being fair, holding him at arm’s length, especially when he didn’t understand why. But it wasn’t just the remembered violence that bothered her. It was the willingness to abandon democracy and his attachment to Palpatine. Was it too late for him at that point in time?

She couldn’t think like that, or Palpatine had already won.

“Come in, Ani.” She turned and didn’t look to see if he was following. She knew he was, that he’d always follow her. Well, that was what she’d used to think.

Padmé led him to the open veranda and sat on one of the couches. Surprisingly, he put some distance between them when he sat on the edge of a cushion. It was like he was ready to make a run for it, like he was the one who had every reason to fear for his life. _Stop that. He’s not going to hurt me._

“I’m so sorry, Padmé.” His eyes shone with such sincerity that her heart ached. “I never meant to scare you. I know my anger is an issue I need to work on. I haven’t forgotten what we talked about after Obi-Wan joined us. I just . . . You know how I get when I feel like I’m being left out. I’m still really confused by your reaction, though. Usually, you tell me off and say I’m being a ‘brat.’” He flashed a nervous smile. “Please talk to me, Padmé. You told me that a relationship will never last without communication.”

Padmé instantly knew what she was going to do to solve the problem. She never liked lying, but telling a half-truth was sometimes the only route one could take. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ve been behaving irrationally.” Moving a bit closer to him, she said, “That night I got sick, I had a nightmare where you became a Sith and hurt me.” Anakin’s eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to no doubt proclaim he would never do such a thing, but she held up a hand to stop him. “I know it shouldn’t bother me as much as it has because it was only a dream, but I can’t help it. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, Ani.”

***

Anakin was relieved that Padmé’s strange behavior wasn’t because of something he did, but it was still upsetting that she’d been looking at him and seeing an image of evil in her head. He held her hands and declared, “I won’t fall to the dark side, Padmé, and I would die before I’d hurt you.”

She looked at him with an expression he couldn’t place and didn’t respond. But before he could swear how much he loved her, she asked, “What do you think of Palpatine?”

Where did _that_ come from? Anakin frowned, letting go of her but not backing away. “You know what I think of him,” he replied slowly. “He’s a friend and father-figure to me.”

Her gaze was intense. “Didn’t you ever think it was strange that he took such a strong liking to you, a random Jedi-in-training, from such a young age?”

Anakin didn’t like where that was going. Was she really trying to interrogate him about Palpatine? He could feel the anger rising like bile in his throat, but he forced it down. She had just said that he was a Sith in her dream, and if he let that anger out now, how could she ever really trust him? So he changed the subject without answering her question, and she let him, which he was more than thankful for.

He hated that both his lovers could only find suspicion in his friendship with the Chancellor. Obi-Wan had been giving him the side-eye for years whenever Anakin mentioned his talks with Palpatine. For Padmé, that was a new development, and he couldn’t understand what had made her think that way. She knew how much Anakin had valued being able to confide in someone from outside the Order while he was growing up. Why was she trying to turn it into something ugly?

“I love you, Ani. We both do,” Padmé said abruptly after they ran out of small, meaningless topics to discuss.

He became nervous again. “Does this have anything to do with your dream?”

She smiled and shook her head, reaching out to him. Anakin took her hand, unsure if he was allowed anything more than that, but then she pulled him toward her. It’d been too long since he held her. He breathed in the scent of her hair and closed his eyes as he tried to banish the feeling that something had drastically changed between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Obi-Wan got involved, Padmé and Anakin had adult conversations because she finally realized that their relationship wasn’t exactly healthy. So they’re trying to be better, but it’s slow going.
> 
> Since this is an AU, I decided to fix certain things from the series and the movies. Maul actually died in TPM. Dude was cut in half, c’mon. (And I can’t stand him as a character.) Also, all women who died in canon for manpain or shock value are alive and will stay that way. Obviously, Padmé “died” in the beginning, but I can assure you that she won’t be dying again.
> 
> Oh, and I should mention that I’m using the Galactic Standard Calendar, so one week is five days and one month is seven weeks. Their year is only a few days longer than ours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor content warning for talk of the loss of a baby.

Ahsoka finally managed to grab Master Windu when he had a spare moment. She thought she’d try asking one of the Masters for information since she hadn’t been able to find much on the Sith that she didn’t already know. Most of it was severely outdated, thousands of years old. Clearly, for a Sith to be hiding in plain sight, they’d become much craftier. She would ask Master Plo, but he was still off-world, and she really wasn’t in the mood for Master Yoda’s vague answers that sometimes took her days to understand. So Master Windu was the next best option.

They walked along the corridor amiably enough. Even though it was no secret that Master Windu wasn’t fond of Anakin, he never treated her like she was an extension of him. Sure, if she did something reckless or against orders, he gave her his Disappointed Look, but it was never personal. She wondered what his stance was on her expulsion from the Order in the future.

“I wanted to know how you can sense the dark side in someone when they’re trying to hide it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Why aren’t you asking Skywalker this?”

Ah.

“He’s been pretty busy.”

Master Windu totally didn’t buy it, but it seemed like he’d play along. After a moment, he said, “It’s near impossible to do so now because the dark side is clouding everything. We can sense it in the strangest places, even here in the Temple.” He paused. “A Sith Lord could stand right in front of me, and there’d be a good chance I wouldn’t sense a damn thing. It’s part of the reason why this war has gone on as long as it has.”

The irony was killing her, but all she could do was thank him for his time and go up to her room, disappointed but not really surprised. It did help to explain why Palpatine could so easily hide himself, though.

Then her comlink went off. She grabbed it quickly, hoping it was who she thought it was.

_“I’m not catching you at a bad time, am I?”_

Ahsoka smiled. “No, I just got back to my room, so we can talk.”

_“I wanted to let you know that Anakin visited me last night. He was so distressed that I had to tell him something, so now he thinks I had a dream where he became a Sith.”_

“As Anakin himself once told me, a version of the truth is sometimes the best lie.” Ahsoka still needed to come up with an excuse as to why she’d been avoiding him, but maybe he wouldn’t ask. “So he’s alright now?”

_“More or less. I did try asking him about Palpatine, but he always gets so defensive about the man. He’s complained about Obi-Wan getting on his case about how close he is to Palpatine. His hold on Anakin is strong.”_

“Well, the creep has probably been planning this for years. We might end up having to tell Anakin the truth and somehow make him believe that Palpatine really isn’t his friend.”

Ahsoka didn’t want to think about how Anakin would react to a future where he slaughtered younglings and basically ushered in an age of fear. Even though Padmé died before she could see what that “Galactic Empire” was going to accomplish, Ahsoka knew that living under the rule of a Sith who was done pretending would be terrifying.

_“Absolutely not. We’ll just have to expose Palpatine on our own.”_

There was something in Padmé’s voice that made Ahsoka remember just how much she had been through. Until Obi-Wan returned, which would be soon, given that she heard his mission had been a success, Ahsoka was the only person she could talk to about it. It had to feel so isolating to be around friends and colleagues and act like she didn’t know what horrible future awaited them. Padmé had always been against the war, and to find out that the entire thing was a plot to gain power? Ahsoka still couldn’t wrap her brain around it. So much death, people she’d been responsible for, and it meant nothing. It must be infuriating to be in the Senate Rotunda and look at Palpatine, knowing what Padmé knew. They had to find a way to stop him, which meant he had to be killed. She wasn’t sure if Padmé would agree with that, but leaving Palpatine alive didn’t seem like a good idea to Ahsoka.

She wanted Padmé to know that she was there if she needed to talk. It was so easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task they’d set before themselves when there was so much that could be lost. “Padmé, how are you doing?”

Padmé went silent, either gathering her thoughts or debating if she should answer truthfully. _“I’m alright, but it’s . . . exhausting. I’ve been through all of this before. I don’t remember every detail, but everything feels familiar enough that I have to constantly take a moment to tell myself that I’m not crazy. And the squabbling in the Senate makes me want to tear my hair out because there’s a_ Sith Lord _standing right in front of us, and they’re arguing about taxes on exported fruit.”_ She sighed, and there was a bone-deep weariness to it that Ahsoka was starting to feel herself. _“How have_ you _been?”_

“I’ve been okay. I still can’t imagine the entire Jedi Order meeting its end. Really, I’m trying to ignore that for now and simply focus on Palpatine.”

Just as hard as it must’ve been for Padmé to know what was going to happen, it was hard for Ahsoka to know that the place she’d always called home would one day be the site of mass murder. She tried not to look down the corridors and imagine dead bodies littering the floor, tried not to imagine a tall figure with a blue lightsaber striking down one Jedi after another. Ahsoka knew that none of it was set in stone, that it wouldn’t even happen the same way with everything that was already different, but she couldn’t stop herself from thinking of Padmé’s future as inevitable. It was beginning to wear her down, and it had only been two days.

_“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you all that.”_

“No, I’m glad you did. It helps me to really understand what’s at stake. I’ll be alright.” And she would be because she’d been strong enough to make it through the war so far. There was no way she’d let Palpatine win. “We’re still bringing Obi-Wan into this, right?”

_“Yes. Have you heard if he’ll be returning soon?”_

“Should be in a few days. We could really use his Master credentials since I didn’t find anything useful in the non-restricted areas of the Archives.”

 _“And he does enjoy doing research,”_ Padmé said fondly.

Ahsoka smiled. She couldn’t wait to tease Obi-Wan about his secret relationships.

They talked for a bit longer, but when they both started to yawn, they said their goodnights and hoped the next day would be better.

\------

Obi-Wan arrived at the Temple completely drained of energy since what little sleep he’d managed to get on the journey back to Coruscant wasn’t nearly enough. He just wanted to make sure Anakin hadn’t blown anything up in his absence—that did actually happen once—and then sleep for three whole days. Looking for him through their bond, he was relieved that Anakin was in his quarters. The less walking he had to do before collapsing onto his bed the better.

The second the door swooshed shut behind him, Obi-Wan was hugged so tightly that he felt his spine pop, which was a rather pleasant sensation. “Hello to you, too,” he said once the hug had lessened in strength. Anakin didn’t seem to want to let him go any time soon, but Obi-Wan had gotten used to such behavior from him. Anakin hated it when Obi-Wan went on missions without him, and since he was finally allowed to touch, that was how he usually reacted upon his return. “How has your leave been? Please tell me that you didn’t take Ahsoka to those pod races you’ve been talking about.”

“I haven’t seen much of Ahsoka lately,” he replied with mild confusion.

Before he could question that, Anakin pulled back enough to capture his mouth in a kiss, his hand buried in Obi-Wan’s hair. Obi-Wan had to slow him down as he was too tired for Anakin’s enthusiasm. When they parted, Anakin rested his forehead against Obi-Wan’s, his eyes still closed, and it was then that Obi-Wan could sense his unease. “Has something happened?” he asked quietly.

It was like the floodgates had been opened with those words. Anakin paced in front of him while he talked, his face expressing one emotion after another as Obi-Wan desperately tried to keep up. He thought he had the gist of it, though, and once Anakin started insisting that he’d never fall to the dark side, Obi-Wan stilled him by placing his hands on his shoulders. “I know. It’s alright,” he said soothingly, injecting peace into their bond. “It sounds like the matter has been settled, but I’ll speak with her about it if you want me to.” Anakin nodded, and feelings of love and gratitude nearly overwhelmed him. “After I’ve gotten some rest, though.”

Predictably, Anakin followed him into his bedroom. “Can I stay? I won’t try anything, I promise.”

Anakin didn’t have to keep reassuring him. They had attempted to have sex a few times, but Obi-Wan hadn’t been able to deal with how emotionally _intense_ Anakin got. Even if he put up his mental shields, Anakin somehow bled through. Obi-Wan eventually explained to him that it was too much, that they needed to take it slow because it was all very new to him. Shockingly, Anakin hadn’t become upset and suggested they cuddle instead, which Obi-Wan had never done in his life, but he found he didn’t mind it. He especially liked the way Anakin almost purred when he ran his fingers through his hair. Not once had Anakin tried to push him into doing anything he was uncomfortable with, and Obi-Wan was left wondering why Anakin couldn’t be that patient in all aspects of his life.

“You know I sleep better when I’m alone,” Obi-Wan said as he tugged off his boots.

Considering how Anakin behaved after what he thought was a long separation, Obi-Wan had no intention of letting him stay. It was very difficult to get comfortable enough to fall asleep with Anakin clinging to him as though his very life depended on it. Obi-Wan had no idea how Padmé coped. He probably wouldn’t have any trouble in that instance since he could barely keep his eyes open, but he still wanted to have his space.

Anakin didn’t put up too much of a fight, and he promised to return later with food because he swore Obi-Wan didn’t know how to take care of himself. Obi-Wan could say the same about Anakin, what with how many all-nighters he’d pull on missions. Once Anakin had left, he took out his comlink. He figured he should at least let Padmé know that he’d arrived safely before he became dead to the world.

“Hello, Padmé. I hope you’re well.”

_“Obi-Wan! I’m so glad to hear from you. You’re okay?”_

He perked up a bit. She sounded more stressed than usual. “I’m fine. Another Separatist plot has been foiled.”

_“That’s good. I . . . I really need to talk to you.”_

His intuition told him it was about more than just a nightmare. “I was actually going to suggest that we meet. Tomorrow night?”

_“Tomorrow night is fine. Just come alone.”_

Obi-Wan promised not to bring Anakin, and he ended the conversation with the nagging feeling that something was very wrong.

\------

Because of the many assassination attempts, Padmé always had a blaster hidden under her elaborate clothing. Before knowing that Palpatine was a Sith Lord, she would chastise herself for being paranoid, but he could have agents all throughout Coruscant, even in the Senate. Who knew? Maybe even some of those assassination attempts had been ordered by Palpatine himself. Padmé was trying very hard not to think about that as she sat in his office, listening to him talk politics. Having a blaster didn’t make her feel any less nervous since blasters were nothing against the power of the Force.

Padmé had no idea why he called her to his office. He was nothing but cordial, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that he was threatening her somehow. She used every bit of her training to keep the fear from surging to the forefront of her mind since she knew he’d be able to sense it, and that would only make him suspicious.

“I heard Master Kenobi has returned. I take it that the mission went well?”

Padmé furrowed her brow. Wouldn’t he have been informed of that already? “I don’t know. We don’t talk much.” She couldn’t understand why he was even bringing it up.

“No?” Palpatine got up from his desk chair and walked over to the window. Looking out over the city, he said, “I had assumed you were friends. You have been through much together, from Naboo to Geonosis.”

“I don’t believe it’s customary for Jedi to have friends outside the Order,” she replied simply. _What is he getting at?_

Palpatine chuckled, sending chills down her spine. “The Order is too restrictive.” He turned to face her, the backlighting making him appear somewhat menacing. “But you’re friends with Anakin, aren’t you?”

Padmé bristled at the use of his first name, but she was too much of a professional to let it show. She smiled politely, willing the conversation to be over. “He probably considers us to be friends, but I think of him as a colleague. We’re working towards the same goal, after all.”

“That is true.” He considered her for a moment before waving a hand in the direction of the exit. “I’m sure I’ve taken up enough of your time.”

Padmé stood and bowed her head. It took great effort to casually walk out, to not look like she couldn’t wait to no longer be in his presence. Once she finally returned to her office, she was shaking, and her heart felt like it was trying to pound out of her chest.

In that moment, it truly hit her that she was in way over her head.

\------

Ahsoka didn’t really have a reason for going to see Padmé, but she wanted to make sure her friend was doing alright. If she was too busy, then Ahsoka would just find something else to do. She had been trying to stay out of the Temple lately so that she wouldn’t accidentally run into Anakin. Ahsoka never thought she’d actually miss fighting. At least being in battle didn’t give her time to let her mind wander.

As soon as she entered Padmé’s office, she knew something had happened. She ran over to Padmé, who looked she’d just received news of someone’s death. Trying to remain calm, she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Palpatine called me to his office.” Padmé stared at her desk and sat perfectly still. “I don’t think he knows about me, but he’s definitely suspicious. All he did was talk about the current political turmoil in the Senate, and then he randomly asked about Obi-Wan. It was all so strange, and he’s never done anything like that before, in the past or the future.”

Ahsoka had to admit it didn’t look good. “But he didn’t outright threaten you?”

“No.”

“Then maybe he was just testing you.”

Padmé sighed. “Maybe, but it still makes me nervous.”

Ahsoka could only hope that Palpatine wouldn’t actually try anything, at least not for a while. It was a very delicate situation. One wrong move, and they could all end up dead or worse.

“Have you had any luck finding something on your end?” Ahsoka asked, attempting to change the subject a bit.

“No, and Bail hasn’t been able to find anything either,” she said glumly.

“What about looking into the finances of the war?”

Padmé shook her head. “That angle is a dead end. My experience with the Banking Clan is proof enough.” She got up and started pacing, reminding Ahsoka of Anakin when he would get particularly frustrated or stressed. “Palpatine has been planning this for so long that I’m not sure we can come up with any kind of noteworthy evidence.” After a few more minutes, Padmé fell back into her chair.

It was then that Ahsoka could see the bags under her eyes.

“You should go home, Padmé,” she said gently.

“If I do, and it gets back to Palpatine, it’ll give him even more reason to be suspicious.”

“Then at least take a nap in your office.”

That startled a laugh out of her. “Senators don’t ‘nap.’”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes with good humor. She had a very similar conversation with Anakin once after she watched him walk straight into a door that he forgot didn’t open automatically. Becoming serious again, she said, “If Palpatine is having you watched, he’ll probably think it’s strange that I keep showing up.”

“I agree. Please be careful, Ahsoka. I don’t want him targeting you.”

She gave her a bright smile. “I always am. Just ask Anakin.”

At that, Padmé laughed, sounding more like herself.

Ahsoka took the long way out of the Senate Office Building so as to be seen by as few people as possible. By the time she returned to the Temple, she was starving, but she stopped dead when she reached the commissary. Anakin was there. She knew she couldn’t avoid him forever. It wasn’t fair to either of them, really.

After she got her bland food, she sat down next to Anakin like it was no big deal and nodded to him in greeting. He nodded back and then did a double take. Ahsoka smiled and was thankful that it didn’t feel forced. “You okay there, Skyguy?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m fine.”

They ate together in a silence that was surprisingly not awkward, but then Ahsoka couldn’t help herself. “Have you seen Obi-Wan yet?”

“Yeah, but he was pretty tired, so I think he’s been sleeping ever since.”

“Y’know, the two of you are really close, even for being former Master-Padawan.” Anakin’s fork stopped in front of his mouth, and Ahsoka caught a flash of alarm through their bond. She realized then that it was easy to forget what she knew when she was giving him a hard time. “And I swear, the way you two bicker, it’s like you’re an old married couple.”

His eyes grew comically wide. “How would you even— You don’t know—” Anakin coughed lightly and took the moment to compose himself. “What are you talking about?”

“You think I haven’t watched holodramas?” she replied with a smirk. “I know an old married couple when I see one.”

He gave her a light shove. “Don’t believe everything you see in holodramas. They like to exaggerate.”

They spent the rest of their lunchtime ribbing each other, and the tension Anakin had been carrying slowly eased away. He must have noticed that she was avoiding him, but after what happened with Padmé, he was probably too nervous to approach her about it. She was glad she decided to stop being afraid, and that’s what it was, fear. She’d become afraid of him for things he hadn’t even done. Ahsoka just couldn’t connect acts of mass murder to the goofy, caring man sitting beside her.

_What happens to you, Anakin?_

\------

Obi-Wan knew around what time Padmé returned to her apartment, unless there was something chaotic going on in the Senate. He actually had no idea when he’d figured out her schedule. He still wasn’t sure when he started to think of her as more than a good friend. Anakin might have influenced him a bit in the beginning since it seemed he was trying to push them together, but once Obi-Wan actually spent time with her alone, he had quickly understood why it was so easy to love her.

After Satine, Obi-Wan never thought he’d fall in love with someone again. He believed it was something that only happened to Padawans who didn’t know any better. But shortly after Zygerria, Obi-Wan finally admitted to himself that Anakin meant the galaxy to him. He hadn’t even cared if Anakin returned his feelings, would have preferred it just so he wouldn’t be tempted to break the Code even further. But of course Anakin felt the same way, and he kissed him one night after going over battle strategies. Almost immediately after, though, Anakin told him that he was married and tried to assure him that Padmé had no issue with them begin together. Obi-Wan knew they were involved with each other in some way because subtlety wasn’t their strong suit, but he couldn’t believe that they had _gotten_ _married_. The entire situation was so out of Obi-Wan’s depth that he’d retreated into himself for the last week of their mission in the Outer Rim, much to Anakin’s distress. It was Padmé who brought him back, whose kindness and passion made him realize that he had overreacted.

“I’ve missed you,” Padmé said before she gave him a quick kiss and wrapped her arms around him in a hug that nearly rivaled Anakin’s.

“I’ve missed you as well.”

He wasn’t going to bring up her nightmare just yet. It wasn’t as though he had to return to the Temple by a certain time.

They ate dinner out on the open veranda because they were both too tired to care about proper dining etiquette. Padmé told him how infuriatingly slow the Senate had gotten to be when it came to making decisions that actually mattered, and Obi-Wan nodded sympathetically. The Council wasn’t much better those days. He hated that Jedi were being sent to planets not because they were in the most need of help, but because of what those planets could offer to the war effort. Altruism was truly dead.

“What’s bothering you, Padmé?” he asked once they finished eating. “You look like you’ve barely slept for at least a week.”

She sighed and took his hand in her own, giving it a slight squeeze as if he was the one who needed comfort. “I assume you’ve spoken to Anakin already.”

“Yes, he told me about your nightmare.”

Padmé took a deep breath. “It wasn’t a nightmare.”

When she didn’t continue, he said, “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“I’m from the future, Obi-Wan.”

The sadness in her eyes automatically made him want to believe her, but it was such an outrageous thing to believe. Time travel wasn’t possible.

“You can talk to Ahsoka. She’s known for a little while. Trust me, I know how it sounds. I really had thought it was a dream at first, but then events from the ‘dream’ started happening. Bills I remember passing, the disaster on Kuat, victories and defeats in the war.” She squeezed his hand again. “It didn’t really feel like a dream anyway. It felt like a life I had lived.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t understand why she would say such things, or why Ahsoka would believe them, if they weren’t true. He trusted both of them, but the concept of time travel still felt a little silly to him. Then again, he had lived through some bizarre events, so was time travel really that out of the question?

“I believe you,” he finally said. “You’ve only told Ahsoka about this?”

Her relief was palpable in the Force. “Yes, and I told Anakin a half-truth because it wasn’t fair to him otherwise.”

“Because he couldn’t understand why you were afraid of him?”

“Yes.”

Obi-Wan felt dread starting to build in the pit of his stomach. “But you said the dream was actually your lived future, and calling what you told Anakin a half-truth . . . ” He trailed off as he saw a look of horror slowly appear in her eyes. “Padmé?” he asked, attempting to keep his voice steady. “What happens to Anakin in the future?”

She began crying without warning, like something had burst inside her, and Obi-Wan barely stopped himself from jumping. He was never very good at dealing with open displays of emotion, but he felt that he’d gotten a little better over the past few months. Wrapping an arm around her convulsing frame, he desperately tried to think of what to say.

“I’m sorry,” she managed to get out. “I-I wasn’t going to tell you, but Anakin, he . . . ”

Obi-Wan’s shoulders sagged under the weight of what he was about to say. “He turns to the dark side.”

“Pal-Palpatine is a Sith Lord. He’s been manipulating Anakin all-all these years. The war, the suffering, it’s all his doing!” Padmé grabbed onto him, her tear-streaked face contorted in pain. “The Republic fell! Palpatine turned it into the Galactic Empire, and they all cheered as he announced himself as our dictator!” She took a few gasping breaths as Obi-Wan stared at her, numb to what she was telling him. “With Anakin’s help, the Jedi Order was destroyed in a single day. We tried to bring him back to the light, but . . . I don’t know. Maybe we just needed more time. I woke up here in the past after I  . . . after I died, after he killed me.”

The Order was gone? After thousands of years, all it took was one day? And Anakin couldn’t have killed her. He loved Padmé with all his heart. How did it go so wrong? His breathing was starting to become erratic, but he had to stay calm, for himself and for Padmé.

“He didn’t mean to.” Padmé was slowly starting to regain control of herself. “I was . . . I got in the way. The two of you were fighting, and he Force-pushed me into . . . something, I don’t know. I died instantly.”

_At least her death was quick._

Seeing that she was done crying, Obi-Wan reached into one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a handkerchief. She laughed when he offered it to her.

“Why do you carry something like that around?”

“You never know when you might need one. Don’t worry, it’s clean.”

She shook her head and gave him an affectionate smile. “Thank you.”

After she wiped her face and blew her nose, they sat together in silence. Padmé was leaning into him heavily, and he still had an arm around her. He had so many questions, but he didn’t think the timing was right. Instead, he held her and let her take it at her own pace. It was obviously a very traumatic experience.

“I keep waking up and forgetting that I’m not pregnant anymore,” Padmé said quietly.

Obi-Wan’s heart broke for her. “I’m so sorry.” It was ridiculously inadequate, but he didn’t know what else to say.

“I can’t imagine bringing a child into that mess.” She laid her head on his shoulder and played with a loose strand of thread on the end of one of his tabards. “He attacked the Temple with the clone troopers. That child’s father was a murderer. He even killed the younglings, Obi-Wan. I don’t . . . I don’t understand how it happened so quickly, the downward spiral . . . ”

Younglings. Their Anakin killed younglings. _No, none of that has actually happened._ Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, letting the Force flow through him. “When does this take place?” he asked once he felt a bit calmer.

“About a year from now.”

So there was still time. He also realized that while their relationship was fairly new to him, to Padmé, they’d been together for much longer. He’d been wondering why she felt so comfortable with him, not that she was uncomfortable before, but there had been a small amount of awkwardness when they were alone together.

“I want to go to the Council about Palpatine.”

That caused her to shoot away from him. “You can’t! Jedi Masters tried to arrest Palpatine, and he twisted it into an attempted takeover of the government. The Senate believed him, and the Jedi were executed under Imperial law. We have to be more careful than that.”

Padmé told him of her plan to find evidence and that they were struggling. He would certainly do as much research as he could in the Archives. However, he didn’t think he’d find anything useful as he’d already gone through the records they had on the Sith once he became a Master. At seeing the hope in her eyes, he decided to keep that thought to himself. It couldn’t hurt to go over the files again.

Then Padmé told him of her strange meeting with Palpatine earlier that day. Obi-Wan felt uneasy because it could have very well been a veiled threat. He was sure Palpatine could have Padmé killed and just blame it on whoever else wanted her dead. After all, there had been many attempts on her life. What if some of those assassination attempts _had_ come from the Chancellor? Since the war was his doing, which Obi-Wan was neatly trying to sidestep for the time being, he’d want to be rid of a very outspoken anti-war senator.

“You understand why we can’t tell Anakin, right?” Padmé asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Yes, but I don’t like it.” It was why he’d chosen to tell Anakin about the Rako Hardeen plot. Not only would it have destroyed Anakin’s trust in him, it would have been needlessly cruel. But he’d made Anakin practice his acting skills until he was satisfied. “If Anakin knew that you come from a future in which he not only became a Sith, but killed you, it would break him. We’ll have to allow him to continue believing the half-truth.” _For now._ He just hoped Anakin would forgive them whenever he did find out. Obi-Wan knew they wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret forever, nor should they, but he had no idea how to tell Anakin. “Padmé, are you going to be alright?”

He couldn’t read her expression, but he felt her sorrow in the Force. She put a hand on his cheek, and he almost thought she was going to kiss him. “I will be, after Palpatine is taken care of and the war is over. Right now, I don’t have the energy to focus on both myself and what needs to be done.”

Obi-Wan could empathize with that as he found it very difficult to focus on himself. It wasn’t something that necessarily bothered him since that was the Jedi way, but at the same time, he did recognize that it wasn’t a healthy way to live while being in a relationship with two people. He’d slowly come to understand that the Order wasn’t right about _everything_. Oh, how Qui-Gon would be so proud.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me.”

At that, she _did_ kiss him, just a soft press of lips. “I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I struggle with writing Obi-Wan the most. The way I see it, over 30 years of repressing his emotions doesn’t disappear just because he realizes he cares for Anakin as more than a friend. It’s been almost half a year now, so he’s a little better at being able to deal with certain things. As for Anakin pushing Obi-Wan and Padmé together, his possessiveness was one of the things Padmé had told him he needed to work on, so he wanted to prove that he can share. (Honestly, though, if either Obi-Wan or Padmé had feelings for anyone else, Anakin would have started setting things on fire.)


	4. Chapter 4

After having that emotional outburst, Padmé actually managed to sleep through the night. She didn’t feel very rested, but she did have a lot of hours to catch up on. Still, she felt better than she had in over a week, and with her busy schedule that day, she could really use the extra bit of energy.

“Mistress Padmé, Senator Organa is here to see you,” Threepio announced. “He doesn’t have an appointment, I’m afraid.”

Padmé smiled. “Oh, let him in. He doesn’t need an appointment.”

After leading him to the sitting area, she asked the usual questions, such as how Breha was doing and if he had a new relief mission in the works. Eventually, she got to the point. “Have you had any luck?”

“No, and before this morning, I would have thought that maybe we aren’t finding anything because there’s simply nothing to be found.”

She tried to keep her anxiety from spiking. “What happened this morning?”

“I ran into the Chancellor, and he was . . . extra friendly.” He paused, smiling weakly. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but it put me on edge.”

She shook her head and told him about her conversation with Palpatine. She was starting to get even more paranoid. “We have to be extra careful. Do you have a jammer in your office?”

“No, but I’ve always been very careful with my words.”

“Okay, then to avoid attracting any more attention, just keep doing that. Don’t even check for bugs. Palpatine knows we’re close, so if he really does think I’m up to something, he might assume I’ve recruited you.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and Padmé’s heart leapt into her throat. But it was just Anakin. Threepio was simultaneously admonishing him for barging in and apologizing to her for not being able to catch him.

“Forgive me, Senator,” Anakin said with a small bow. “I didn’t know you were in a meeting.”

Padmé had to smile at Threepio’s indignation. While the droid continued to scold Anakin, she turned back to Bail. “Please be careful.”

“I will. I’d say the same to you, but I know you wouldn’t listen.”

She chuckled and saw him to the door, hoping she hadn’t done the wrong thing by getting him involved.

Once they were alone, Anakin walked toward her as though to embrace her, but he stopped short. “I’m leaving Coruscant tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure that we’re on good terms.” Before she could say anything, he took a step back in alarm. “Not that I think I’ll die on this mission! We’re going to be helping out a rebel group on Onderon, so they’ll be the ones fighting. We’ll be like mentors.”

She kept her expression neutral when she remembered that Mina had nearly been killed by that point in the timeline. Anakin was right in that the mission wasn’t going to be very dangerous, though. He wouldn’t even stay for that long. It would become Ahsoka’s mission. Padmé remembered how proud both Anakin and Obi-Wan were of her.

She wondered what Obi-Wan had told him. “We’re fine, Anakin. It was just a dream.” But Padmé flinched when he reached out to touch her cheek, and she caught the look of hurt that flashed in his eyes. _When will I stop reacting to him like that?_

He gave her wobbly smile. “Can I visit you tonight then?”

“I’m sorry, Ani. I’m just so tired. I might even skip dinner.” In an attempt to soften the blow, she closed the distance between them and held onto him tightly. His arms automatically came up around her. “I promise that we’ll spend some time together soon, all three of us.”

\------

“Barriss!” Ahsoka ran through the corridor. She was dreading talking to Barriss only because she wasn’t sure if it was already too late to help her. “Hey, how was the mission?”

Barriss raised an eyebrow. They hadn’t talked much in the past couple of months, either because they were on missions or were just too tired to catch up the few times they were both on-world. “It went well,” she replied politely.

When it was clear Barriss wasn’t going to elaborate, Ahsoka felt awkward. Had things between them gotten so bad? _I should just get right to it then._ “Can we talk, privately?”

“Um, yes?”

Ahsoka grabbed her by the elbow and went up to her room. It was a long walk since neither of them said a word. She felt Barriss’ confusion as if it were slapping her in the face, but at least there wasn’t any anger.

“What’s going on?” Barriss asked once they were finally alone.

Ahsoka sat down in front of her and took a deep breath. “How are you?”

“I’m fine. What—”

“No, I mean, _how are you_?” Ahsoka had no idea what she was doing. She should have better prepared herself. “I know the war has been hard on everyone. I sometimes wonder if we’re really doing the right thing. We were both taught how to be Jedi, but have we really been behaving like Jedi?” As she spoke, she realized that she never did talk with Padmé about her conflicted feelings about the war. But after hearing how the Council had treated her in the future, those conflicted feelings had turned toward the Jedi Order. Ahsoka needed to have this conversation almost as much as Barriss did. “What if . . . what if we’re not on the right side? I’m not saying we should join the Separatists! But everything about this war . . . We’re supposed to be peacekeepers, but what peace are we keeping? We’ve become so violent.” _And we’re working for a Sith Lord._

Barriss stared at her in silence before her expression became one of relief. “So I’m not the only one?” she asked, her voice small.

Ahsoka shook her head. “I feel like the Council is too bound to the Senate. We should be serving the Republic, not a political body.”

That was where it all went wrong. Ahsoka hadn’t thought about the politics behind what they did very much until after she found out the Chancellor was a Sith Lord. Suddenly, every mission had an entirely different meaning to it, and she was beginning to scrutinize everything the Jedi were told to do.

“Yes, exactly!” Barriss became more animated than Ahsoka had ever seen her. “The Council doesn’t understand how far the Order has fallen because of this war. All we do is fight! I’m-I’m starting to wonder if this will ever end.”

“It _will_ end,” Ahsoka said with determination. _It’ll end once we expose that creep for what he really is._ “But if you feel like you’re betraying yourself by fighting, maybe you should consider an alternative.”

Barriss gasped. “You’re talking about leaving the Order.”

“Maybe, but there might be another way.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” And she really didn’t. Leaving the Order was probably the best answer for Barriss. “But if you ever need to talk about it, I’m here.”

Barriss smiled. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

A little while later, Ahsoka decided to walk outside to try to clear her mind. Talking with Barriss had put her in a strange place, one she wasn’t sure she liked to be in. She didn’t want to judge the Council for something they hadn’t done, but there was plenty they _had_ done that made her question them. How much blame could she put on Palpatine for all the morally grey decisions they made? Padmé had mentioned to her that she didn’t like the fact that the Council was making children fight in the war, but Ahsoka had never really looked at it that way. She always thought she was old enough to fight, that she was strong enough to handle anything that came her way. But that was what Ahsoka was told by everyone around her. How did _she_ actually feel about it?

Lost in her thoughts as she was, she didn’t even notice Obi-Wan walking right up to her.

“Hello.”

She yelped. “Master Obi-Wan!”

“You should be mindful of your surrounds, young Padawan.” His tone made her feel like he just told a joke that she wasn’t in on. “Come. We have much to discuss.”

“So you talked with Padmé.”

He nodded. “I know more than she originally wanted to tell me.” Ahsoka stopped dead in her tracks, and he turned to look at her. “I read between the lines, so to speak.”

“You don’t . . . blame yourself, do you?”

“I’m trying not to. We don’t understand how it happened, though, not really.”

Ahsoka brought her gaze downward. She had a question she desperately wanted to ask, and she couldn’t go to Padmé with it. “Do you think it was partly my fault that it happened?” Even though no one was around, she couldn’t bring herself to actually say that Anakin fell to the dark side.

“Why would it be your fault at all?”

Looking at his expression, she realized that Padmé hadn’t told him everything. She took a step closer and lowered her voice. “I was expelled from the Order for something I didn’t do, and when it was revealed I had been innocent, I was told it was actually my Trial for Knighthood. I refused the Council’s invitation back into the Order, and Anakin didn’t take it well.”

Obi-Wan said nothing at first, obviously thinking over what she’d told him. “Was he angry?”

“No, she said he was devastated.”

“That makes more sense,” he mumbled to himself.

“What?”

He waved a hand at her. “Nothing. To answer your question, no, I don’t think you should assign any blame to yourself. Even if you had been there in the end, it might not have changed anything.” He clasped his hands behind his back as he started walking again. “Also, we can’t allow ourselves to believe that it _will_ happen, as the future is always in motion. Us having this knowledge already means the future will be different from the one she lived.”

He was right, and she’d known all that, but it felt better hearing it from someone else.

They walked together in awkward silence for a moment before she remembered what she’d been dying to do. “So you’re a popular guy, huh?”

Obi-Wan tilted his head. “I don’t follow.”

She elbowed him in the side, startling him. “Y’know . . . ” Then Ahsoka winked.

Once it clicked, he groaned and hid his face in his hand. “I can’t believe she told you.”

“Don’t be mad at her,” she said with a laugh. “I think she was trying to distract me from all the doom and gloom. Besides, it does make it easier to work together. In this context, it’s kind of important to know as much as possible.”

When he lowered his hand, Ahsoka noticed that his cheeks were a bit pink. She never thought she’d see Obi-Wan Kenobi be embarrassed by anything. “Yes, well, do try to keep the teasing to a minimum please.”

Ahsoka crossed her arms and smirked at him. “You know I won’t.”

He sighed. “I suppose I should expect nothing less from Anakin’s Padawan.”

\------

Padmé had spent the past few days trying and failing to find anything that could connect Palpatine to the start and operation of the war. She felt like she was running in circles, and her exhaustion was only getting worse. Plus, she still had to keep up appearances, not just for Palpatine but for the Senate as well. She was practically leading two separate lives. Maybe it really was useless, but what was the point of being sent back if she couldn’t make a difference? If she knew more of what had actually happened those last few days before her death, perhaps they would have a better chance at finding something.

“While I do believe that the Chancellor is slowly eroding our democracy,” Bail stated as put his cup of caf down onto the table, “our search has gotten us nowhere.”

Padmé held back a sigh and finished her own cup. “I do admit that he’s covered his tracks extremely well, but everyone makes mistakes. We just have to find his.”

“Maybe we need to go back further in time. Instead of looking at documents from a few months before the war, we should start looking from a year before the Battle of Geonosis.”

Padmé agreed. A lot of planning had to go into the war, and she didn’t doubt that Palpatine had begun to put things into motion well ahead of Geonosis. Then her eyes lit up. “What about the clones?”

“What about them? They were ordered by the Jedi.”

“Yes, but doesn’t that strike you as odd? Why would peacekeepers order an army?”

Bail nodded. “I had thought that was out of character for them. Their report on the clones didn’t make much sense, but at the time, we all just brushed it off. How would we investigate that when it’s a Jedi matter, though?”

“We can try to see if Palpatine actually had something to do with it.” And why wouldn’t he have had his hands in that aspect of the war? It was almost too convenient that the Republic suddenly had an army exactly when it needed one. “We know when the Kaminoans began production, so we should look at anything from around that time period. I’ll ask Obi-Wan to look into it, but I don’t know how much he’ll find.”

“I’m guessing he can’t ask the Council for permission to formally investigate the issue without raising too many questions.”

“Most likely.”

Bail shrugged and stood at the same time as Padmé. “Well, I’m glad we have help in this at least. I’ll let you know if I think I’m on to something.”

Padmé saw him out, grateful for the boost of hope their new approach gave her. Something about the clones had always bothered her, and she couldn’t believe that she’d only just thought that there might be a connection between the creation of the army and Palpatine. If he really had been involved, then perhaps he had a way of controlling them. It would certainly explain their odd behavior in the future.

Once she sat at her desk, her comlink went off.

 _“We’re back on Coruscant.”_ It was Obi-Wan. _“But we left Ahsoka on her own.”_

“I know.”

_“Oh. Did you speak with Anakin?”_

“No, I remember this mission. Don’t worry. Ahsoka helps the rebels drive out the Separatists, and the king takes back his throne.”

It was the first time Padmé spoke of an event in such a manner to him. She knew he believed her, but it still had to be strange for him. It’d been a little over two weeks since she woke up in the past, so she’d had enough time to adjust. In contrast, it’d only been four days since Obi-Wan found out.

_“Well, that’s good to know. Have you had any success in the meantime?”_

She wouldn’t call their new strategy a “success,” but Obi-Wan agreed to look into it. The Council had gone over what they could already, but considering Obi-Wan wasn’t a Master at the time, he hadn’t been given the same access.

_“Just don’t push yourself too hard, Padmé.”_

“I can’t make any promises. Don’t have too much fun in the Archives.”

He chuckled. _“I’ll try not to.”_

\------

Anakin hadn’t seen the Chancellor since his rescue on Naboo, which felt like months ago. He understood that he was busy with both the war and the usual politics, so he appreciated the effort the Chancellor made to catch up with him. It made Anakin feel special that even after all those years, Palpatine still thought of him, still cared about his well-being.

“Chancellor, you wished to see me?”

Palpatine looked up from his datapad and grinned. “Yes, yes. Come here, my boy.” He waved him over, setting his work aside. “How are you?”

Anakin sat in a chair across from him. “I am well. And you?”

“I’ve been better, but I’ve also been worse, so I can’t complain. I heard you were off on a mission, but I thought you were on leave.”

“I was, but it’s not as though the fighting has stopped.”

Palpatine nodded. “Of course. However, you’re back so soon. Did it not go well?”

“It’s actually still ongoing. Ahsoka, my Padawan, has been put in charge.” He couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice.

Palpatine nodded. “She’s grown quite a bit then.”

“Yes. I think she’ll even be ready for her Trials soon.” Anakin stopped himself from continuing. The Supreme Chancellor of the Republic didn’t call him there to listen to him gush about his Padawan. “Anyway, was there something you wanted to discuss?”

“Ah, yes, there was.” His smile faded, and he folded his hands on top of his desk. The change in his demeanor made Anakin sit forward a little. “I have heard a . . . disturbing rumor about your old master.”

Anakin raised his eyebrows at that. “Obi-Wan?”

“Yes. He’s serving on the Council, is he not?”

Anakin wasn’t sure why the Chancellor was asking that as he already knew who was on the Council. “He is,” he replied slowly.

“Well, it seems like he might not be fit for the job.”

“I don’t understand.”

Palpatine sighed. “He had been seen going to Senator Amidala’s apartment at an odd hour.” When Anakin didn’t react, he continued, “It seems he may be having an affair with her.”

Anakin’s mouth twisted in annoyance. Was Obi-Wan really being that careless? Even Anakin hadn’t been caught, and both Padmé and Obi-Wan had said he was the reckless one when it came to visiting her apartment. And where did the Chancellor even hear such a rumor? He would have to talk with Obi-Wan.

“I appreciate your concern, Chancellor, but I swear to you that Obi-Wan is an exemplary Jedi and Council member. That rumor is baseless.”

A look of confusion passed across the Chancellor’s face. “You sound so sure.”

Anakin held his head up high, but he was laughing a little on the inside. If only Palpatine knew the truth. “That’s because I am. If that was all, may I please be excused?”

“Oh . . . yes, of course.”

Anakin was offended for Obi-Wan that the Chancellor thought him being in a relationship with Padmé would make him unfit to serve on the Council. He was offended for Padmé, too. Being in a relationship with her made one a better person.

Focusing on their bond, he ended up finding Obi-Wan at Dex’s. That wasn’t unusual since he sometimes went there to get information. Obi-Wan had spent most of the previous day holed up in the Archives, much to Anakin’s irritation. He hadn’t been able to spend any time alone with Obi-Wan ever since he got back from the emergency mission, and since Padmé was still upset by her dream, he hadn’t really gotten to spend any time with her either. He was beginning to feel lonely. Whatever Obi-Wan had been researching could wait at least a few hours. He wondered if that was why he was at Dex’s.

Anakin slid onto the bench across from him. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Obi-Wan put his drink down and gestured to his plate of food, which admittedly, did look good. After Anakin stared at him in mild annoyance, Obi-Wan said, “I had to ask Dex something.” Anakin continued to stare at him, but Obi-Wan didn’t elaborate and took a bite of his food instead.

Anakin wanted to smack the fork out of his hand. It felt like Obi-Wan was hiding something from him. But he told Anakin about Rako Hardeen, and that was an extremely dangerous and sensitive operation, so why wouldn’t he tell him about whatever it was he was involved in now? Anakin debated if he should tell him what Palpatine said.

Obi-Wan stopped eating. “What’s wrong?” he asked with a sigh.

He decided to alter the truth a bit. “I heard a rumor about you and Padmé. You need to be more careful.”

“Where did you hear such a thing?” Obi-Wan whispered, leaning forward.

Anakin shrugged. “Around.” He knew he was being a brat, but he didn’t care.

Obi-Wan sat back and pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not an answer.”

“Yeah, well, I can keep some things to myself since you’re obviously doing the same,” Anakin spat at him.

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened a little, but he didn’t respond. That only proved he _was_ hiding something. After everything they’d been through together, Obi-Wan still thought he couldn’t trust him. Whatever it was, he hoped it was worth it. Anakin glared at him as he got up from the booth, ignoring Obi-Wan’s protests, and he barely restrained himself from storming out.

\------

Ahsoka stood in front of the cheering crowd, letting relief wash over her. She’d initially stood off to the side, but Steela had dragged her to the center so that she was shoulder to shoulder with the leader of the rebellion. Steela smiled at her, eyes bright and hand warm. Ahsoka hadn’t even realized that Steela was still holding her hand. She smiled back. The people had fought and won. Ahsoka hoped it would be an example to other planets under Separatist occupation, that if they rose up, they had a chance at regaining their freedom.

Then she looked over at Anakin and Obi-Wan, who had arrived a short time ago. While she felt Anakin’s pride through their bond, she was concerned about the tension between the two of them. It made her nervous. Did Palpatine do something while she was gone? Had Anakin found out what they’d been keeping from him?

After congratulating the rebels one last time—that hug from Steela felt extra long—Ahsoka felt incredibly uneasy as they walked back to the ship. She didn’t want to ask Anakin what had happened because whenever he was in one of those moods, she wanted to punch him. The second he went over to talk to Rex on the bridge, Ahsoka asked Obi-Wan instead.

He gave her an odd look before it dawned on him what she was referring to. “Everything’s fine. Anakin is just being his usual self.”

She sensed that there was more to it than that, but he frowned in a way that meant _this is not the right place to be having this discussion_. Ahsoka nodded and went to go find a bunk to call her own.

Even though she’d gotten used to sleeping in all kinds of places, it took her a long time to fall asleep, and she didn’t feel refreshed in the slightest when she woke up. Not knowing what else to do, she went in search of Obi-Wan, hoping he’d actually be willing to talk. She found him in a private room with the door open, like he was expecting her. Without even having to ask, he explained what happened at Dex’s.

“He’s maintaining an air of low-level professionalism, but at least it seems only Rex is seeing right through it.” Obi-Wan scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry. It’s inappropriate to be complaining about this to you.”

“It’s okay, but maybe this is a sign that we should tell him. His distrust will only grow if we don’t.”

He shook his head. “If he knew the truth, it would destroy him.”

Obi-Wan knew her master better than she did, so she dropped it. Instead, she asked him how the research had been going. He hadn’t found anything useful, which didn’t surprise her, and Padmé was hitting dead ends as well. They were at a loss for what to do next. What else _could_ they do without drawing attention to themselves?

\------

Obi-Wan usually asked in advance if he could visit rather than just show up like Anakin always did, and for that Padmé was thankful. It meant she got a heads up about Anakin’s sour mood, but Obi-Wan hadn’t said what the cause was. Maybe he didn’t know. It didn’t always take much to set Anakin off. So while it was nice that the three of them were spending time together, the atmosphere was uncomfortable.

“The rebellion on Onderon succeeded,” Obi-Wan commented, breaking the silence. She knew it was meant to be an acknowledgement of her “prediction.”

“I’m glad.”

Anakin angrily forked his food.

“Anything exciting happen in the Senate lately?”

She knew it was bad when Obi-Wan was willing to talk about politics. “No, just the same old arguments.”

Anakin somehow found a way to show his irritation through the act of drinking water.

After Obi-Wan averted his eyes from her, she decided to stop pretending everything was fine. “Alright, what happened?” Padmé felt like she was talking to children instead of two grown men.

Anakin slammed his glass down onto the table. “Obi-Wan is hiding something from me.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you in on it, too?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She knew she had a perfect sabacc face.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, though, because he only got angrier. “So he’s hiding something from both of us!” He stood and turned to face Obi-Wan, who was acting like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. “What are you up to?” Anakin demanded.

“Please sit down, Anakin. And I’m not going to answer you when you talk to me like that.”

“Stop treating me like a Padawan!”

“Then stop _acting_ like one.”

“Is this the Council’s doing? Did they give you a secret mission and make you swear not to tell me? I know they don’t trust me.”

“Anakin, _sit down_. There’s no ‘secret mission.’”

Padmé was starting to get nervous. It seemed that any time Anakin got angry, she could hear the low rumble of Mustafar.

“Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“Because you don’t need to be informed of every little thing I do. My life doesn’t revolve around you, Anakin.”

“So after all these years, you don’t trust me at all!”

Obi-Wan stood up so quickly that his chair fell over. “Oh, for Force’s sake!”

“Stop it!”

They both turned to look at her with matching expressions of shock. At least they actually stopped fighting that time. And no one ended up dead.

Padmé looked at Anakin with determination. Enough was enough. “I’m from the future, about a year from now. I woke up here after I died, and I’ve been trying to prevent the future I lived from happening again. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan are the only ones who know, and they’ve been helping me. If you want to get angry at someone, get angry at me, not him.”

***

Anakin was too stunned to say anything at first. With all the strange things that had happened, especially Mortis, he didn’t even question how it was possible. He glanced at Obi-Wan, whose face was drained of all color, before he managed to ask, “For how long?”

“Ever since the night I had that dream about you,” she replied softly.

Then the anger came back full-force.

“Over three weeks?” She flinched, but he was too wrapped up in his outrage to care. “How _could_ you! How could both of you lie to me for so—” Then it caught up with him. The nightmare. The nightmare that wasn’t a nightmare at all but had actually _happened_. “Do I turn to the dark side in the future?”

“We were only trying to spare you,” Padmé said slowly. “You did such horrible things.”

“Were you judging me for something I haven’t even done?”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan finally said, “Palpatine is a Sith Lord.”

Anakin felt too betrayed to believe a word that came out of Obi-Wan’s mouth. “All this time, you’ve been lying to me, thinking I’m a monster, and now you’re saying the Chancellor is a Sith Lord.” His fists were clenched so hard that the joints in his left hand ached. “You never did like how close I am to him.”

Padmé remained seated, but Obi-Wan slowly walked toward Anakin, looking at him like he was expecting him to snap and turn to the dark side right then and there. “Anakin, this isn’t about how I feel. It’s the truth. Please, just—”

“No! You even brought Ahsoka in on this!” He couldn’t get enough air into his lungs, and it felt like the room had suddenly burst into flames. “All of you have been lying to me!” He couldn’t stand to have their eyes on him. “You think I’m evil!” He had to get out. “And you only told me because you thought I was close to finding out anyway!” He had to get out _now_.

Anakin ran from the room, and he couldn’t hear anything through the blood rushing in his ears to know if they called after him. His surroundings were a blur, and when he reached the speeder, he remembered that him and Obi-Wan had come together. _Good. Let Obi-Wan figure out how to get back to the Temple on his own._ And with that, he flew off into the night air and tried to ignore the tears streaming down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That Obi-Wan/Padmé “rumor” comes straight from the RotS novelization, which is a great read. I love messing with Palpatine’s plans.
> 
> The next chapter is where shit goes down, and we enter a new phase of the plot.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor content warning for a very brief mention of the loss of a baby.

A moment of silence passed after Anakin left, both of them too shocked to say a word. Really, they should have seen it coming. Perhaps they were wrong, and Padmé should have told him in the beginning. While Anakin still would have gotten upset about the prospect of turning to the dark side, he wouldn’t have felt so betrayed. Seeing how keeping that secret had blown up in their faces, Obi-Wan was even more thankful that he had decided to include Anakin in the plot to fake his own death. He couldn’t imagine what sort of fury would have been unleashed if he had kept him in the dark about that.

Eventually, Obi-Wan righted his fallen chair and sat down. “Well, that could have been worse.”

“Yes, at least he didn’t kill anyone,” she snapped.

Obi-Wan knew she wasn’t angry. Even if he couldn’t sense her fear, her too-wide eyes and shaking hands gave her away.

“Once he calms down and thinks it through, everything will be alright.”

But since when did Anakin think rationally, especially when it came to Obi-Wan or Padmé?

“He’s constantly reminding me of how he was at the end,” she whispered. “Every time he gets angry, I have to tell myself that he hasn’t gone down that path, that it isn’t inevitable.”

“Of course it isn’t. Just because it happened once doesn’t mean it will happen again.” He led her out of the dining room to one of the couches out on the veranda. At least it didn’t seem like she was going to cry. “We should give Anakin some space for now. I’ll let Ahsoka know in the morning that we’ve told him so she doesn’t get blindsided.”

Padmé nodded and sagged against him, hopefully realizing that he wasn’t planning on leaving just yet, but Obi-Wan didn’t really know what else to say. At least with Anakin, he had more experience to fall back on when it came to offering comfort, even though he wasn’t all that good at it. He was a lot less confident when it came to Padmé.  “I’m sorry,” he said, feeling utterly useless.

“For what?”

“I’m quite bad at this. I don’t know if I got any better in the future, but . . . ”

It took her a few seconds to understand what he was referring to. “You did, a little. I think because of how you were raised, you won’t ever be entirely comfortable with certain aspects of a relationship, but that’s alright. The effort is appreciated.” She laughed quietly and patted his thigh. “Besides, I don’t mind having a lover who is sometimes hesitant in their affections when I also have Anakin to deal with.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with two people who had Anakin’s disposition. He nearly shuddered at the thought.

“I love you for who you are, not for who I want you to be. And you didn't leave after Anakin ran out, so you’re doing just fine.”

He tensed at the confession. While Padmé was easy to love, he wasn’t at the point where he was _in_ love with her, but maybe she already knew that. He didn’t think the timeline had changed that drastically.

Padmé took a deep breath and let it out slowly, not seeming to care about his lack of reciprocation. “You’re right, though. Once he calms down, it will all work out. I just hope he doesn’t do anything rash.”

He gave her a skeptical look. “This _is_ Anakin you’re talking about.”

“Let me think positive thoughts, Obi-Wan.”

\------

Anakin tossed and turned for hours before he finally gave up on sleep. The anger was more like background noise by that point. What was bothering him the most was that neither of them had apologized, that they saw nothing wrong with what they did to him. He wondered if Padmé only told him that lie about having a nightmare just to stop his repeated attempts at reaching out to her. She was never afraid of a nightmare. It was just him. His own wife was afraid of him for things he hadn’t even done. It wasn’t like he would ever hurt her, so why did the very sight of him make her sick when she woke up that night?

Once light filtered into his room, Anakin decided to go talk to the one person who understood him and wasn’t involved in that mess. Luckily, the Chancellor had some free time.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this early in the morning,” Palpatine said as he led him to one of the chairs by his desk. “You look troubled, Anakin. Is it the war?”

Anakin moved like he was an autopilot. Instead of answering Palpatine’s question, he looked at the man he called a friend and asked bluntly, “Are you a Sith Lord?” He wasn’t sure why that was the first thing to come out of his mouth. Maybe he just wanted to get it out of the way. After all, it wasn’t like Anakin expected him to say “yes.”

Palpatine stared at him for a moment, but then a smile spread across his face. “My, what a peculiar thing to ask.”

That wasn’t a denial. Why hadn’t the Chancellor told him it was laughable to even suggest it? Why was he _smiling_ at him like that? Anakin was too tired to panic, so he just sat there, motionless.

“You know, I’m the only person who hasn’t lied to you.”

That soothed him a bit, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized there was no way Palpatine could know that. He didn’t even know about his marriage to Padmé or his relationship with Obi-Wan. He kept enough of his personal life a secret from the Chancellor that there was _no way_ he could know that. Besides, hadn’t he been lying to Anakin all those years about him being a Sith Lord? Then again, Anakin had never asked him before. Maybe all he had to do was ask, and the Chancellor was always ready to tell him the truth.

“I only want what’s best for you. The Jedi are fools for not recognizing your potential, for not letting you be happy. They’re selfish for wanting to keep you from your wife.”

Anakin sat up a bit straighter. How did Palpatine know about his marriage? Was that why he told him the rumor about Padmé and Obi-Wan? He had so many questions, but they all got stuck in his throat.

Palpatine gave him that grandfatherly smile Anakin remembered from when he was small. “I want the war to end, but I’m afraid of what the Jedi will do if they win. They’re drunk on power. They used to be peacekeepers, but now they’re commanding armies of those who they see more as possessions than sentient beings. They’ve been going against their Code ever since the war began, and they don’t even seem to be bothered by it.” He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t like the idea of using clones bred for war, but what else can I do? The Republic has to be defended.”

Anakin caught on to the fact that Palpatine basically called the clones slaves, and he wasn’t wrong. Anakin thought that himself. He tried to make up for it by getting to know the troopers in the 501st and treating them as actual people with individual personalities. He _never_ called them by their numbers. Anakin knew he wasn’t the only Jedi who treated them that way, but none of that made it right.

“What about Dooku?” he asked, having finally found his voice. “He’s a Sith, so aren’t you on the same side?”

Palpatine scoffed. “Dooku is not a true Sith. He’s using his power to bring chaos to the galaxy, while I’m using my power to try to bring peace and stability.”

That made very little sense to Anakin. A true Sith wanted peace? It flew in the face of everything he’d been taught. “Doesn’t using the dark side make that person evil?”

“The Jedi like to spout such absolutes, even though they claim only the Sith deal in absolutes.” He chuckled and shook his head as though he was talking about wayward younglings. “The dark side is just another facet of the Force. It all depends on how you use it, on what kind of person you are at your core.” Palpatine got up and walked around his desk to stand beside Anakin. He put a hand on his shoulder and said, “I swear I will help you in whatever way I can. All you have to do is ask.”

The confusion he was feeling only intensified. _Help me with what? What are you actually offering me?_ He didn’t know what to say, and it must have shown on his face because Palpatine only told him to think about it and then sat back at his desk. It was an obvious dismissal, and Anakin was glad to leave. Too much had happened in such a short amount of time that he felt like he was being pulled in all directions at once. He needed to talk to Padmé. He was still upset about her lying to him, but he had to be near her.

\------

Padmé decided to focus on her senatorial duties that morning. She couldn’t ignore her actual job just because she was trying to save the galaxy. It also provided enough of a distraction from what had happened the previous night. Like Obi-Wan had said, Anakin just needed space. Eventually, he would realize why they hadn’t wanted to tell him . . . she hoped.

Then Anakin walked in. He didn’t look angry, though, so she was optimistic that he was there to talk instead of shout at her. She guided him over to the sitting area and let him speak first, knowing he must have so many questions.

His bloodshot eyes locked with hers, and he asked the one question she never wanted to answer. “How did you die?”

Padmé took a deep breath, and with overwhelming sadness, she said, “You killed me.” His face crumpled, but something told her that he wouldn’t react well to touch in that moment. “I was trying to stop you and Obi-Wan from fighting each other. I know you didn’t mean to do it, but you used the Force against me as if I was some battle droid.”

Anakin looked down at his lap, obviously fighting to keep the tears from falling. “That’s the real reason you were afraid of me after the ‘nightmare,’” he said softly.

“It wasn’t just that.” Padmé didn’t want to tell him, but she knew she had to.

His face went pale as she told him of his atrocities. When he looked at her, the tears that he’d been holding back finally rolled down his cheeks. “I’ll never fall, and I’ll never hurt you or Obi-Wan.” The pain in his voice made her chest tighten. “Please believe me.”

She nearly sighed. “This is why we didn’t want to tell you. It seemed cruel.” Padmé took the edge of her sleeve and wiped his tears away. “I don’t think it’s inevitable, Anakin. However, your temper frightens me. It always has in some way, but now I see a new layer of darkness to it.”

“Do you . . . do you know what made me turn?” he asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know for sure, but I think Palpatine manipulated you, offered you a way to save me.” At his look of confusion, she explained the visions of her death. When he perked up a bit at the mention of her being pregnant, she realized that only Obi-Wan knew she had lost her baby. But she couldn’t talk about it with Anakin. It would be too much. So Padmé ignored his reaction and got back on track. “Please believe me when I say that Palpatine is evil.” She grabbed his shoulders in desperation, fearing that his rage would resurface in defense of him. “He wants to destroy the Republic and create an empire. The Jedi face destruction, while the entire galaxy faces immense suffering.” Seeing that he wasn’t about to start shouting at her, she relaxed and let him go. Anakin looked skeptical, but she would take that over his usual reaction. “We want to save you just as much as we want to save the Republic.”

Then Padmé told him about how the four of them had been trying to find evidence that Palpatine was controlling the war. Even though it was much earlier in the timeline, she didn’t want to try the same approach of sending Jedi Masters to “arrest” him. She didn’t think public sentiment of the Jedi had deteriorated to such an extent that Palpatine would be so easily believed, but it was still too much of a risk.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” she said quietly. Padmé noticed that his tears had stopped, and he simply looked drained. “Please think about what I’ve told you. Obi-Wan and I will always be there for you, Anakin.”

_Just don’t go down a path we can’t follow._

\------

Ahsoka hadn’t seen Barriss since they opened up about their conflicted feelings. She hoped Barriss was doing alright, but she knew one conversation wasn’t going to fix anything. Barriss was fairly private, so if she wasn’t training, she was probably in her room. As luck would have it, Ahsoka caught her walking out of the commissary.

“Hey, how have you been?” Ahsoka tried to convey that she wasn’t trying to make small talk.

Barriss paused and looked deep in thought for a brief moment. Then she gave her a tired smile. “I’m alright, but . . . ”

“But?”

Taking a step closer, her smile disappeared. “I’m thinking of leaving the Order,” she whispered, treating the words as if they were forbidden. To some Jedi, they were. “I’m scared, though. I have no idea how to survive out there.”

“Barriss, I think you’re smart enough that you’d figure it out. If you can handle the missions the Council sends you on, you can handle pretty much anything. Our training teaches us to survive.” Ahsoka wasn’t sure if it would help, but she added, “I wouldn’t abandon you as a friend just because you left.” She would never know why the Barriss of the future betrayed her in such a way, but just as Anakin hadn’t killed younglings, Barriss hadn’t framed her for murder. None of it had happened, and she was still Ahsoka’s friend.

It seemed to work. Some of the tension left Barriss’ shoulders, and she tentatively put a hand on Ahsoka’s forearm. “Thank you. I will . . . continue to meditate on the issue.” But then her posture went rigid, and she bowed her head slightly. “Master Kenobi,” she said in acknowledgement, walking past him quickly.

He stood in front of Ahsoka, hands clasped behind his back.

“Did something happen?” she asked, squinting at him. “You have that look on your face.”

“It’s pleasant outside today,” Obi-Wan said in lieu of answering her before walking away.

It took a second for Ahsoka to realize that he wanted her to follow him. Obi-Wan’s silence was making her feel nervous. Couldn’t he think of something to say until they were alone? Her imagination was running wild, and the building dread made her want to shake him. “Please, just tell me that we’re not all doomed.”

He raised his eyebrows, but he still didn’t say a word until they were well out of hearing range of the few Jedi who were enjoying the sun. “We had to tell Anakin.”

Ahsoka cringed. She’d been waiting for that to happen, but she didn’t think it would be that soon. “I’m going to guess that he got pretty mad about being lied to.”

“Yes, and he was too distracted by that to really hear what we were saying.” He sat on a nearby bench, looking more dispirited than she’d ever seen him be. She knew Obi-Wan liked to keep up a certain appearance around her, so for him to sit there with his back bowed out and eyes on the ground, it had to be bad. “He feels betrayed and that we’re just waiting for him to fall. It’s been a long time since Anakin has gotten so furious with me. Before we could tell him any details, he stormed out and stranded me at her apartment.”

Ahsoka had seen his fury enough times to be able to predict when he’d explode almost to the second. Thankfully, she’d never been on the other end of it. He’d been angry with her, of course, but not like _that_.

Sitting next to Obi-Wan, she let the silence linger for a moment, but her curiosity got the best of her eventually. “If he took the speeder, how’d you get back?”

“I had to take an air taxi,” he replied with a sigh.

She almost laughed at the picture in her head. Great Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi taking an air taxi late at night. If anyone had seen him, it wouldn’t take long to spread throughout the Temple. The Padawans would turn it into something scandalous.

He looked at her as though he knew what she was thinking. “In all seriousness, Ahsoka, be on guard whenever you do see him.”

She promised that she would, but Anakin’s rage never did last very long. Trying to get a sense of his emotional state through their bond, she realized that he had his shields up, which was probably why Obi-Wan assumed he was still angry. She could get a lock on his location, but that was it. Waiting was only going to make her anxious, so she headed to the Room of a Thousand Fountains to go talk to him.

When she saw Anakin, he didn’t look mad at all, just tired and grief-stricken. Maybe having the night to think on it, Anakin had become just as disturbed as they had been that there was a very real possibility that he could fall to the dark side. Not being able to get a read on him, Ahsoka wasn’t sure if he wanted company, but she was willing to take the risk.

“Hey,” she said as she sat down on the ground a little ways from him.

Anakin closed his eyes. “Hey, Snips.”

The use of her nickname meant he wasn’t angry with her at least. She took a chance and reached out to touch his forearm. “I’m sorry we kept that from you.”

He sighed, and his shields came down a bit, just enough to give her a peak. There was so much anguish that she instantly retreated back to herself.

“Logically, I understand, but emotionally, I’m upset that you all lied to me.” He opened his eyes and looked at her. The signs that he’d spent a decent amount of time crying were painfully obvious. “Do you know how Padmé died?”

“No, she skipped over that part.” She didn’t say that she knew why.

Anakin nodded and went quiet for a moment. Then he slowly got up, joints popping, and she wondered just how long he’d been sitting there. “I’m going to get some rest.”

“You look like you could really use it.”

He smiled weakly at her in response and trudged down the nearest footpath.

The only explanation for his behavior was that he’d spoken with Padmé earlier in the morning. Ahsoka was glad that Padmé hadn’t told her how she’d died. Even though she easily figured it out, actually hearing it would have been much worse. She only hoped that Anakin would listen to them about Palpatine.

\------

Padmé almost forgot to comm Obi-Wan to let him know everything was fine, but when she tried, he didn’t answer. Given the time of day, it was likely that he was in a meeting, so she left a message instead. Having seen that Anakin had no anger left for them, she felt more at ease, but there was still the issue with Palpatine. It was difficult to tell if Anakin truly believed her, but there was no point in asking him to aid them in their quest to expose the Chancellor. Besides, it would feel too similar to what the Council had asked him to do in the future, and that clearly hadn’t gone over well. Until Anakin got his own proof that Palpatine was a Sith Lord, Padmé suspected that he’d never believe it.

Soon after, Threepio walked in. “I’m sorry to bother you, Mistress Padmé, but you have been summoned to the Supreme Chancellor’s office.”

Padmé tried to keep her anxiety level down. It could just be the usual politics, but she had a bad feeling about it. As a precaution, she commed Bail to let him know where she’d be and that if he didn’t hear from her in the next twenty minutes, make up some sort of emergency and tell her guards to retrieve her. It was easier to tell him that rather than her guards just for the fact that Bail already knew what the situation was. Trying to explain it to her guards without sounding paranoid wasn’t something she was in the mood for.

It took all of her willpower to stay as relaxed as possible the closer she got to his office. Once inside, Padmé could have sworn the air felt unnaturally cold. She took measured steps to his desk and bowed her head slightly before sitting down. “Good morning, Chancellor.”

“Good morning,” he said pleasantly. “You’re well, I hope.”

“Yes, I am, just busy.”

Palpatine nodded. “You do look a bit fatigued. How is your family doing?”

She refused to let her confusion show. “They’re fine, but I don’t see them much. The opportunity to return to Naboo doesn’t present itself very often.”

“Yes, in this time of war, many senators have stayed on Coruscant. Interplanetary travel isn’t the safest right now anyway.”

She smiled politely, but she was screaming on the inside for him to get to the point.

“There is something that I’ve noticed and would like to question you on,” Palpatine said as his expression turned serious. “You’ve been . . . Well, I suppose ‘snooping’ is the best way to put it.”

Padmé had been waiting for this conversation, as she was sure some pieces of information were being monitored, but she’d hoped that it wouldn’t be for another few weeks. At least she was a good liar. “I suspect that corruption has been lengthening the war,” she replied simply.

He arched an eyebrow. “And you think corruption is coming from my office?”

“I have been looking into all possibilities.”

Palpatine didn’t respond for some time, but then his expression slowly darkened.

Her heartbeat sped up.

“What is going on?” he demanded. “This is very unlike you, Padmé. I know that you’ve always been against the war, but this is a grave overstep.”

That unnatural coldness she noticed earlier became sharper, like it was attempting to dig itself into her skin, and her nerves were starting to get the better of her. He could kill her with the flick of his wrist. “I’m o-only trying to help the Republic. My entire life’s work has been about defending democracy.”

Palpatine slammed his hands on his desk, causing her to jump. “That is enough!” When he stood, he seemed taller than he actually was. “You will tell me what you’re _really_ up to.”

\------

Anakin awoke with a start. Something felt very wrong. He reached out to Obi-Wan through their bond, but he was fine, if bored. He must be in a Council meeting. Ahsoka seemed fine as well. With dawning horror, he realized that it had to be Padmé. Anakin tried comming her multiple times, but she didn’t answer. Then he tore out of his room.

Flying at a speed that even made him a little nervous, he arrived at the Senate Office Building in record time. He haphazardly parked the speeder and ran all the way to her office, giving himself a boost with the Force. After he practically collided with a troubled Senator Organa, he knew he was right.

“She was called to Palpatine’s office a short while ago, so I thought I’d wait for her here.” He smiled, but it wasn’t very convincing.

“Padmé is in terrible danger.” _And it’s all my fault. Why did I confront him?_

“What do you mean?”

But Anakin didn’t stay to answer him and rushed to the nearest turbolift that would take him to the Chancellor’s floor.

\------

She was clasping her hands together so tightly that they were shaking. “I swear I’m telling the truth.”

As he slowly walked around his desk, Padmé felt like she was being stalked by a predator. “I believe you, but there’s something you’re holding back.”

Once he was within arm’s reach of her, she jumped up from the chair and took a few steps away from him. “I know what you are!” she shouted, distantly proud of herself that her voice was steady. “And I know what you want. You’ve been playing us all for fools.” Padmé stood up straight and drew on her experience as a queen fighting an invasion. She wasn’t going to let fear stop her. “You’ve never cared about the Republic. All you want is power, but you aren’t going to get what you want.” She narrowed her eyes. “And you aren’t going to have Anakin.”

After a brief pause, he continued to advance on her. “I’m curious, how have you come by such knowledge? Surely, you don’t have any physical evidence or you would have presented it to the Senate already.”

Padmé backed away from him and tried not to let herself get cornered.

“I will ask you again. How do you know what you accuse me of?”

Even though she wasn’t Force-sensitive, she could feel the power slowly gathering around him. Was there a way he could kill her and make it look like an accident? But he used her as a tool to turn Anakin in the future, or at least she thought that was the case. Her death would only turn Anakin _against_ him.

“Answer me!”

Suddenly, there was a loud commotion outside the office, and soon after, Anakin ran in, lightsaber ignited. Padmé was hopeful for a second before a different kind of fear began to take hold. What if that was the moment he turned in the new timeline she created? Anakin was in a vulnerable state, and Palpatine could probably say anything to sway him. What if her coming back really was pointless?

\------

Obi-Wan jolted slightly in his seat as he got what felt like a small zap of electricity through his bond with Anakin. After making sure none of the Council members had noticed, he focused on their bond, hoping that Anakin had finally dropped his mental shields. What he found surprised him because instead of anger or betrayal, there was an all-consuming fear. Concentrating harder, he was able to figure out that Anakin wasn’t in the Temple. What if he’d decided to confront Palpatine in an attempt to prove them wrong?

He bolted for the doors. Obi-Wan could hear Mace shouting after him, but he didn’t dare stop running.

\------

Anakin took one look at Padmé, his expression unreadable. “Chancellor, you are under arrest,” he announced, pointing his lightsaber at Palpatine.

But he only chuckled. “Under whose authority?”

“The Jedi Order.”

“But you’re not even a Master, my dear boy. You have no such power.” He turned away from her and took a step toward Anakin, his hands held out. “You should reconsider what you’re doing. Think about what I told you about the Jedi, about the dark side of the Force.”

Padmé blanched as she realized that Anakin had in fact gone to see Palpatine. That had to be the reason why Palpatine wanted to speak with her. He probably made the connection between her snooping and Anakin asking him if he was a Sith Lord. She had no doubt that was what Anakin had done. Why couldn’t he have just believed them?

“I don’t care about any of that,” he said with a surprising amount of confidence. “You’re threatening Padmé. That’s enough to erase any confusion I feel about you.”

Palpatine shook his head and sighed. “Oh, Anakin, I’m not threatening her. I only wanted to know why she was saying such horrible things about me.” He paused, giving Padmé a sideways glance. “I may have went a tad overboard, and for that I do apologize.”

Anakin’s blade lowered ever so slightly, and Padmé’s eyes widened in terror. _No, no, no, this can’t be happening._

“Tell me, Anakin,” Palpatine said as he walked toward him. “Have I ever caused you any harm? Have I ever caused _your wife_ any harm?”

He didn’t answer him.

Palpatine got as close to Anakin as he could without impaling himself on his lightsaber. “I have only wanted what’s best for you.”

“It’s all lies!” Padmé finally shouted. “Don’t listen to him! Please!”

Anakin frowned at her. “What he told me earlier today . . . Yes, he’s a Sith Lord, but he wants the war to end. Maybe you got it wrong, Padmé.” He looked back at Palpatine, who was smiling at him, and turned off his lightsaber. “Maybe creating an empire is the only way to bring peace and stability to the galaxy.”

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Just what _had_ Palpatine told him? “Anakin, don’t do this.” Padmé knew Anakin could feel how afraid she was, so why was he siding with Palpatine? “You told me that you’d never turn to the dark side, and by joining him, you’ll be doing just that.”

“But the Chancellor isn’t evil.”

“Yes, he is!”

“Now, now,” Palpatine said. He rested a hand on Anakin’s shoulder as he looked directly at Padmé. “There seems to be some confusion regarding what I’m trying to do for the Republic.”

If she could get Palpatine to hurt her, then Anakin would finally understand what she’d been trying to tell him. Padmé knew she only had one chance, so without hesitation, she launched herself at Palpatine and hit him as hard as she could. He fell to the floor with his hands covering his nose, which she was sure she’d broken, and he either went down because he was caught off guard, or he was trying to gain Anakin’s sympathy.

“Padmé!” Anakin shouted as he rushed to Palpatine’s side to help him up. “What are you doing?”

Ignoring the pain in her hand, she glared at Palpatine. “Giving him what he deserves.” She saw a flash of anger in his eyes, but that was it. Her plan had failed. Unless . . . “He’s a two-faced, pathetic little man who preyed on a _child_ in an attempt to gain power. He’s disgusting beyond imagination, and I’d spit on his mother’s feet.” She hoped using a Nabooian insult would be enough to tip him over the edge.

“Padmé, stop it!”

“Yes,” Palpatine sneered, blood gushing out of his nose. “I believe I’ve had quite enough of you.”

Suddenly, Anakin’s eyes widened, and he used the Force to push Palpatine back to the floor, igniting his lightsaber. He must have been able to sense some kind of warning. While he still looked conflicted, at least he was pointing his weapon at Palpatine once again.

Slowly getting to his feet, Palpatine smiled at him, but the desired effect was ruined by the blood. “My dear boy—”

“Stop! You were going to hurt Padmé!” His voice shook slightly. “And I . . . I _killed_ her because of what you turned me into. You only want an-an apprentice. You’re always going on about how powerful I am, how the Jedi don’t appreciate what I’m truly capable of. But _I_ know what I’m capable of . . . and I wish I didn’t.”

Palpatine stared at him in confusion, but then his face brightened, and he turned toward Padmé. “You’ve come from the future. _That_ is how you know. But how did you accomplish such a feat?”

“I died,” she said bluntly. Padmé felt mildly nauseous from the way he was looking at her, like she was something to be devoured. “I don’t know how I got here, and I don’t really care. I’m going to make sure the future that I lived doesn’t happen in any form. You _will_ lose, Chancellor.” She walked over to Anakin and squeezed the hand that wasn’t holding his lightsaber. “Please believe me. I can’t bear to lose you again.”

Anakin looked down at her fondly and squeezed her hand back. “I love you.”

Before she could say the same, Anakin let go of her and charged at Palpatine, but a lightsaber shot into Palpatine’s hand through his sleeve. As they began to fight, Padmé quickly got out of the way, pressing her back against the wall, and she had enough presence of mind to fish out her comlink.

\------

Ahsoka was debating about whether she should do some lightsaber practice or spend time on meditation to try to clear her head. She’d been so unfocused lately that she was surprised at how well the mission on Onderon had went. Thinking about those rebels, she had the strangest desire to talk to Steela, only to see how everything was going, of course.

Then her comlink went off, but when she answered it, no one was there. Something in the Force told her to listen harder, and when she did, she could make out the sounds of a lightsaber battle. Ahsoka’s eyes widened as she heard Palpatine taunting his opponent, and when she reached through her bond with Anakin, she was slammed with a flurry of emotions.

Keeping the connection open on her comlink—and there was no doubt in her mind that it was Padmé who had commed her—she ran to the Council Chamber to get Obi-Wan, but when she got there, she couldn’t get past the guards. “Please! I have to speak with Master Obi-Wan! It’s urgent!” She tried to push her way through. “You have to let me in!”

The doors opened abruptly, revealing Master Windu and Master Yoda. Some of the other Council members were gathering behind them, obviously curious as to why a Padawan was behaving so poorly. Master Windu waved the guards away. “What’s going on?”

“I have to speak with Master Obi-Wan,” she said as calmly as she could manage.

“He ran out a little while ago with no explanation, so I ask again, what’s going on?”

Ahsoka knew what had happened in the future when the Jedi tried to go after Palpatine, but she had to do _something_ to help. She held out her comlink. “Palpatine is a Sith Lord, and he’s fighting my master _right now_.”

\------

Obi-Wan felt pain and anger through their bond, and he pushed the speeder to its limits. He flew straight for Palpatine’s office, opting for the quickest way to get to Anakin. Stopping at the window, he could see them locked in a duel. It was difficult to judge who was winning, but Obi-Wan didn’t think it was Anakin. Igniting his lightsaber, he slashed at the transparisteel and jumped inside, immediately noticing another Force signature in the room. When he saw Padmé against the far wall, he understood why he’d felt such fear earlier.

Without saying a word, he joined Anakin in the fight. He seemed to be injured, as he wasn’t moving as swiftly as usual, so Obi-Wan immersed himself deeper into the Force. It flowed through him in a way that made his fighting style almost vicious, and Palpatine was slightly taken aback, but he recovered quickly.

“I know you can do better, Anakin,” Palpatine said above the crackling of their lightsabers. “Use your anger. It makes you strong. It gives you power you can only dream of.”

“Don’t listen to him!” Obi-Wan shouted. He tried to keep Palpatine’s focus on him rather than Anakin, but nothing was working. However, it appeared that Palpatine was actually holding back, that he didn’t actually want to kill Anakin. Between that and the goading, he clearly still had hope that Anakin could be turned.

“See? Your old master still treats you like a youngling, like you can’t handle yourself. He came here because he thinks you’d fail on your own.” Palpatine narrowly missed getting his arm lopped off by Obi-Wan’s blade. “He doesn’t _trust_ you. None of them do, not even Padmé.”

Obi-Wan could feel the dark side begin to swirl around Anakin.

“You don’t get to speak her name!” Anakin snarled, and he moved like his injury had somehow disappeared.

_No._

Obi-Wan used the Force to speed up his movements, and he finally succeeded in drawing Palpatine’s attention, but Anakin was having none of it. Instead of working as a team, like they always had, Anakin acted as if Obi-Wan wasn’t even there. When he swore he saw a glimmer of yellow in Anakin’s eyes, he faltered and ended up getting thrown into the wall.

_Anakin, don’t!_

He ran toward them, but he stopped abruptly when he felt a pressure around his throat. Then Obi-Wan was lifted off the ground as he clawed at the invisible force cutting off his airway. Palpatine was using one hand to choke him as he used the other to shoot lightning at Anakin, which he caught on his blade. Obi-Wan attempted to reach Anakin through their bond, but it had become a tangled mess. So absorbed in his fury, Anakin wasn’t even looking at him.

It had been a long time since Obi-Wan was truly afraid.

\------

They weren’t getting there fast enough. Ahsoka didn’t care that her impatience was inappropriate for a Jedi. She sensed something awful in the Force, and she couldn’t even feel Anakin at all. Did that mean he was dead? Was Padmé dead? What about Obi-Wan? What if all they found were bodies, and Palpatine was long gone?

She could see a speeder hovering outside Palpatine’s office. “We should go in that way.”

“We should do this _properly_ ,” Master Gallia chided.

Ahsoka had to take a deep breath to calm herself so that she didn’t start screaming at a Council member. Surely, they had to feel it, too. Didn’t they care that Anakin and Obi-Wan were in danger? Or did they care more about the politics of the issue?

Getting to the top floor seemed to take forever, and her palms were starting to itch. It took a lot of restraint to not just grab her lightsabers and run ahead once the office doors were in sight. _Oh, to hell with this._ Ignoring the unconscious guards, she burst through the doors and ran into the main room, only to stop short at the sight before her. The air left her lungs like she had been punched in the gut.

Anakin was standing over a headless body, his back facing her, and he was steeped in the dark side. Against the far wall, Padmé was staring at him in frozen horror. Obi-Wan was standing beside him, looking at Anakin as though he were a wild animal, and if he moved the wrong way, he’d be torn to shreds.

The Council slowly came up behind Ahsoka, and she could feel their unease. Even Master Yoda didn’t go forward. Maybe they didn’t know what to do, or maybe they understood what a delicate situation they were in.

When Anakin turned to face Obi-Wan, Ahsoka almost expected to see Sith yellow in his eyes. They were blue, but the expression on his face made her swallow hard. His lightsaber was still ignited, and Obi-Wan glanced at it like he wasn’t sure if it would be swinging at him.

“Anakin, it’s over. The Chancellor is dead.”

Obi-Wan sounded confident, but Ahsoka thought that he was just as nervous as she was. The Council seemed to be content with letting the scene before them play out. Obi-Wan had spent roughly the last twelve years dealing with Anakin, so of course he’d know how to talk him down. But this was different. This was terrifying. And all they could do was stand there and hope Obi-Wan would succeed because if he didn’t . . .

“You must know that it was all lies. I trust you with my life.”

Ahsoka wondered what the Council was thinking. To her, it was obvious that Obi-Wan cared about Anakin more than he was supposed to, but she was watching them with knowledge that the Council didn’t have. Maybe they wouldn’t read into it.

Then she looked over at Padmé and noticed that she still hadn’t moved. Very slowly, Ahsoka walked over and took her by the arm with the intention of getting her out of there. She saw a blaster in Padmé’s hand, and Ahsoka briefly wondered if she’d been able to use it on Palpatine or if she was holding it because she was afraid of what Anakin might do. Padmé’s movements were stiff, but Ahsoka eventually got her out of the room, and they kept going until they reached the turbolift. Then Padmé became boneless, causing Ahsoka to yelp as she caught her before she hit the floor. At least she didn’t actually lose consciousness.

Padmé looked ill, and Ahsoka decided it was time to get her home. She’d let Obi-Wan deal with the immediate fallout. Ahsoka didn’t think she could handle it anyway, not so soon. She would need a lot of time to process what Anakin had done, and she didn’t even want to think about what it would mean for the Republic.

\------

Obi-Wan couldn’t think of what Anakin using the dark side meant, if he’d fallen or not. He had to focus on the task at hand since there were more than enough Jedi Masters who were ready to pounce if he failed. “Anakin,” he pleaded, “don’t let him win.” _I can’t lose you_ , he tried to send through their muddied bond.

Finally, Anakin came back to himself, and he looked at the body at his feet before shutting off his lightsaber. His gaze traveled across the room as though he was searching for something, and that was when Obi-Wan noticed Padmé was gone.

Mace stepped forward cautiously, noticeably still on edge. “We need to let the Senate know what happened here, and Skywalker needs to be returned to the Temple immediately.”

His choice of words didn’t escape Obi-Wan. Anakin didn’t need to return to the Temple, he needed to “be returned,” as if he was an object that belonged to the Jedi. Considering how sensitive Anakin still was to his past, Obi-Wan only hoped he hadn’t noticed, but glancing at him, it seemed he hadn’t.

“Yes, I think that’s best,” Obi-Wan said quickly. He ushered Anakin toward the broken window with a hand at the small of his back, ignoring the way the Council members were staring at him.

Obi-Wan took note of Anakin’s overall condition and saw that he was limping slightly, but he couldn’t see any serious injuries.

Two Masters followed them to the speeder. It seemed they didn’t trust Obi-Wan either, but could he really blame them? They just saw his former Padawan immersed in the dark side and was only brought back through an attachment on Obi-Wan’s part. He had no idea if Anakin was still mad at him for hiding the truth about Padmé since it was difficult to get a read on him. It was like the dark side left residue on his very soul.

Anakin didn’t speak until the speeder left the side of the building. “I had to do it. He would have killed both of you if I lost.”

He clearly had very little confidence in Obi-Wan’s ability to defeat a Sith Lord, which was funny, considering Obi-Wan had done just that over a decade ago when he was still a Padawan. But Obi-Wan wasn’t stupid. He knew that Palpatine was much more powerful than Maul, and there was a very good chance that Palpatine would have killed him had he tried to take him on his own. Together, though, together they had done something that was both necessary and frightening. Anakin had basked in the dark side, forcing Obi-Wan to adjust his fighting style so that they could work off of each other like they always did. He knew that the only reason Palpatine was dead was because Anakin had completely thrown off the restraints he’d put on himself as dictated by the Code. Well, it also helped that Palpatine wasn’t trying very hard to kill him.

“I don’t regret using the dark side because it allowed me, allowed us, to defeat him.”

He suppressed a flinch at that.

With their bond finally reconnected, Obi-Wan could feel the panic rise within Anakin, and he latched onto Obi-Wan so suddenly that they nearly flew into a building. “I swear I haven’t fallen! And I won’t ever use the dark side again!” His fingers dug painfully into Obi-Wan’s arm. “You don’t hate me now, do you?”

“No, Anakin, I don’t hate you.” He remembered Padmé telling him that he hadn’t hated Anakin in the future even after finding out what he had done. He wasn’t sure he could ever hate Anakin. As for him using the dark side, Obi-Wan could now sense that he was still firmly in the light, but the dark lingered, and he wasn’t sure it would ever leave him. Did that mean he had fallen? Obi-Wan wasn’t sure what the exact parameters were. “The Council is going to have a lot of questions, and they aren’t going to wait. Once they’ve returned, there will be an interrogation.”

“And I’m not going to hide anymore,” Anakin declared. “I’m going to tell them about my marriage to Padmé and the relationship the three of us have.”

Obi-Wan’s jaw clenched. Anakin could be so selfish at times. “Calm down. That’s something we should all discuss together. You can’t make a decision like that on your own when you wouldn’t be the only one affected by it.”

After a moment, Anakin brushed against his mind in apology. “You’re right,” he said quietly.

Sighing, Obi-Wan sent him a small wave of forgiveness. “How injured are you?”

He shrugged. “I’ll be fine.”

Silence settled between them, for which Obi-Wan was grateful. He needed the time to think about how he was going to explain himself to the Council because he knew they were going to tear into him for breaking the Code in such a way.

\------

Padmé wanted to throw up. For the short ride to her apartment, she tried to think of anything but what she had witnessed in Palpatine’s office. It was like the future came true, but in a slightly different way. Although she could tell Anakin had used the dark side, she wasn’t sure if he had actually turned. All she could see was Mustafar’s harsh, red glow. But she kept her composure. She didn’t want Ahsoka to worry any more than she already was.

Once they reached her apartment, Padmé was finally able to find her voice again. Maybe talking about it would put it out of her mind. “Palpatine kept goading Anakin into using the dark side. While he was using that lightning against Anakin and choking Obi-Wan, I realized that his attention was split. It would make him vulnerable to someone who he very clearly forgot was there.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “I always carry a blaster. I took a shot, and it hit him in the side. The angle was bad, but I didn’t want to move any more than I had to in case it drew attention to myself. The hit provided enough of a distraction that Anakin cut off his hand. Then Obi-Wan was free and . . . ” She couldn’t talk about it anymore, so Ahsoka would have to find out the rest from Obi-Wan. Changing the subject, she said, “I don’t know what the Senate will do.”

Ahsoka didn’t press her to tell the rest and instead went along with the new topic. “Maybe it’ll help that you were there. It wasn’t just the Jedi.” She had to be referring to what happened in the future when the Jedi tried to take care of Palpatine. “Maybe this will all work out somehow.”

Although there wasn’t any confidence in her voice, Padmé could appreciate the desire to be positive. She didn’t have the energy to convince herself that nothing bad would result from what happened that day. Palpatine was gone, but what was left in his wake? She had no idea if she’d truly prevented anything at all. What if Dooku wasn’t the only other Sith? There was enough she didn’t know about her future timeline that there was still a chance that everything could fall apart.

“Ahsoka, you don’t have to stay,” Padmé said, laying a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure the Council wants you back at the Temple.”

Ahsoka was obviously torn, but she shook her head. “I’ll stay a little longer.”

Padmé’s comlink went off, and she remembered that she hadn’t contacted Bail to let him know she was alright.

_“Padmé?”_

“I’m sorry, Bail. So much happened that I forgot.”

_“It’s fine. I’m just glad you’re safe. An emergency session has been called, though. What happened with Palpatine?”_

She gave him a brief explanation, and he was appalled that the man he’d been investigating in secret was more than just corrupt. Of course, she left out that Anakin might be a Sith himself. She needed to find out if Obi-Wan was able to get through to him.

_“They’ll want you to give testimony.”_

“That’s not a problem, but I need a moment to breathe first. Can you please explain my absence?”

_“Of course. I’ll comm you later to let you know how it went.”_

Padmé thanked him and was glad that she had decided to include him in their investigation. It made the revelation of what Palpatine actually was a little easier for him to swallow. He could even say at the meeting that he’d had his suspicions that Palpatine was up to something.

“Please, it’s alright, Ahsoka. You can go,” Padmé said as she sat next to her. She was starting to feel guilty, like her poor emotional state was making Ahsoka feel like she had to stay when she’d rather leave.

“I really don’t mind.” Her gaze went up to the ceiling, and Padmé thought she looked a little embarrassed. “I enjoy your company.” Ahsoka glanced at her. “Your friendship means a lot to me.”

Padmé smiled and realized she didn’t have to force it. “Oh, Ahsoka. I feel the same way.” She put her arm around Ahsoka’s shoulders and pulled her into a sideways embrace. “Anakin is so lucky to have you as a Padawan.”

“That’s nice to hear. People usually say _I’m_ the lucky one.”

“Well, those people are fools to not see how special you are.” When Ahsoka tried to deny it, Padmé stopped her. “You’re not like the others. I used to think Anakin was rubbing off on you, but then I realized that’s simply who you are. You were raised by the Jedi just as Obi-Wan was, yet you managed not to get caught up in everything that’s wrong with the Code. You’re what a Jedi _should_ be.”

Ahsoka was stunned into silence, but she eventually gave her a shy smile and said, “But I’m only a Padawan. I still have a lot to learn.”

“You have to remember that I’m from the future. What I didn’t see for myself, I heard from Anakin, and he’s always been proud of you. _I’m_ proud of you.” Padmé held onto her a little tighter. “You’re capable of so much, Ahsoka.”

“And what if I leave the Order again?”

Padmé wasn’t sure if it was truly a hypothetical question or if she was actually considering it. Either way, it didn’t matter. “Then I will think that you’re very brave.”

She smiled again, but it was a little brighter that time. “Thank you.”

Soon after, Ahsoka left, borrowing one of Padmé’s speeders since it didn’t matter if the Council knew where she had been. Then Padmé went to inform her staff and guards that she was fine.

Roughly an hour later, Bail contacted her to fill her in. She was surprised the meeting was so short. As expected, everyone reacted with disbelief. Although some of Palpatine’s supporters tried to frame the Jedi, public opinion, including that of the Senate, hadn’t gotten so low that people bought it. But there was a power vacuum, and no one knew what it meant for the war. Of course, there was going to be a major investigation, not just into Palpatine’s death but into his involvement in the war. Bail said that her having witnessed the murder seemed to put some minds at ease. There would be a point of view from one of their own and from someone who was well-respected.

In other words, it could have been a lot worse. Padmé felt some of the stress leave her body. All that was left was finding out what happened with Anakin and Obi-Wan.

\------

For some bizarre reason, Yoda insisted that Obi-Wan sit in on the meeting about Anakin. He had expected them to tell him to wait outside the chamber, and they’d call him in afterward to speak of what happened from his perspective. Instead, he was sitting in his designated chair as if it was just an ordinary Council meeting.

_I have a bad feeling about this._

Obi-Wan knew what Yoda’s stance was on the use of the dark side, but he wasn’t sure how the others felt. Ki-Adi-Mundi volunteered to see if Anakin was still of the light. Anakin looked mildly uncomfortable as he was poked and prodded at through the Force, but he was declared to not be a Sith. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure what that meant. The Sith, like the Jedi, were an organization of Force users, so one couldn’t actually tell if a person followed Sith dogma through probing. He could sense wisps of the dark side in Anakin’s Force signature, but he did his best to ignore it for the time being. Looking at Yoda, it was difficult to gauge his reaction. There was no way Yoda didn’t think Anakin had turned, but he didn’t say a word.

“Unsurprisingly, the Senate is already asking questions, so we need you to tell us what happened,” Mace stated plainly.

There wasn’t a trace of anger within Anakin as he spoke. Obi-Wan would have been proud if he wasn’t so apprehensive. Once he started talking about using the dark side, Obi-Wan inconspicuously watched the other members for their reactions, but they didn’t have any. He really wished Anakin wasn’t so matter-of-fact in his retelling. While being emotional wouldn’t help his case, being so detached was almost worse. He could at least sound remorseful.

“After Senator Amidala shot the Chancellor, I used the distraction to cut off the hand he was using against me. In his pain, he let Master Kenobi go, and the two of us fought him together once again. He was at a disadvantage with the use of only one hand, but he was still strong in the Force. I knew that we needed an extra push to defeat him, and using the dark side was the only answer. If I hadn’t done it, Master Kenobi and Senator Amidala would be dead. I had no way of knowing that the Council was on its way to assist us.” He paused and looked downward for a moment, licking his lips as if preparing to say something of great importance. “I knew the Chancellor didn’t want to kill me because he thought he could still use me . . . as his apprentice. But he was wrong. I won’t ever become a Sith.”

Obi-Wan knew the Council wouldn’t accept any of that as a legitimate excuse for what he’d done. And saying he wouldn’t ever become a Sith? Obi-Wan was sure they all thought he had _acted_ like one.

Silence reigned over the chamber once he was finished, and Anakin simply stood there with his hands clasped behind his back, face devoid of emotion.

Oddly, Mace turned to Obi-Wan. “How did you know Skywalker was fighting the Chancellor?”

“I felt it in the Force,” he replied simply.

Mace shook his head. “But that’s too specific. The Force doesn’t work like that.”

He knew he couldn’t hide their bond forever, but he wished he didn’t have to reveal it right at that moment. It wasn’t exactly the best timing. “I was able to figure out what was happening through our bond.”

“Your bond with Skywalker should have been severed after he was knighted.”

“I am aware.”

Mace stared at him, unimpressed. Then he looked back at Anakin. “What is Obi-Wan to you?”

Obi-Wan frowned. Were they really going to discuss this _now_?

Even Anakin was caught off-guard. “We’re former Master and Padawan.”

The Council didn’t buy it. Obi-Wan could feel a shift in the atmosphere of the room, and many of them were regarding Anakin with suspicion.

“Please, we ask that you be honest with us,” Plo Koon said earnestly.

They weren’t being fair, putting Anakin on the spot when Obi-Wan had an equal part in what they were accusing him of. He got up and walked to the center of the chamber, placing himself between Anakin and the majority of the Council. “It’s my attachment that should be put on trial, not his. Besides, shouldn’t we be focusing on the matter at hand instead of personal issues?”

“That looked like more than just attachment,” Adi Gallia said. “And this is relevant because it pertains to the man who killed a Sith Lord while using the dark side of the Force.”

“So you’re insinuating that Anakin used the dark side because he has an attachment to me.”

“Yes. There’s a _reason_ the Code exists, which you well know.”

Anakin had obviously reached his breaking point. “What would the Council know about love anyway?” he shouted as he pushed Obi-Wan aside.

“Who said anything about _love_?” Mace asked, eyebrows raised.

Obi-Wan covered his face with his hand. Anakin never had learned to think before speaking. He felt fear through their bond a second later, Anakin apparently realizing what he had just done.

Mace regarded Obi-Wan with an unreadable expression. “Are you in a relationship with Skywalker?”

He was taken aback by the blunt nature of the question. _This is_ not _how I expected this meeting to go._

Before he could answer, Anakin said, “I’ll leave the Order. That’s what you all want anyway. Just spare Obi-Wan.”

“Are you claiming to have manipulated Master Kenobi into a relationship?” Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

Obi-Wan was about to tell them that he never even said they were in a relationship when he felt a sharp spike of anger through their bond. He turned to Anakin and put a hand on his chest. _Be calm_ , he sent to him. Obi-Wan realized that denying it was useless as too much had already been seen and said. They hadn’t talked with Padmé, though, so he was determined to leave her out of it.

***

Anakin was ready to chew them all out. How dare they—

“We have been together for almost half a year, and no manipulation of any kind was involved,” Obi-Wan said with the sort of stubbornness that he used to berate Anakin for.

It was like all of the air had been sucked out of the room. Anakin gaped at him. He never would have thought that Obi-Wan would admit it so openly to anyone, let alone the Jedi High Council. Even Windu was speechless.

Yoda seemed to be the only one to break out of the shock. “Much to think about, we have. Go to your quarters, you should.”

Anakin wanted to argue, but he followed Obi-Wan’s lead and bowed to the Council before walking out. Their silence was crushing.

Oddly enough, no one ordered the Temple guards standing outside the chamber to follow them. Maybe the Council thought that they wouldn’t dare to disobey them, lest they make their punishment worse. But once they were in the turbolift, Obi-Wan said, ”We’ll sneak out and go to Padmé’s apartment. I want to make sure she’s alright, and I’m not doing that over a comlink.”

Looking at Obi-Wan warily, Anakin took a step away from him. “Who are you and what have you done with my former master?”

The corner of Obi-Wan’s mouth turned upward. “You’re forgetting who my own master was. Plus, I’ve never been one to follow _all_ the rules. Case in point, I fell in love and more than once.”

Anakin was about to say that Obi-Wan had practically drilled it into him to follow the rules for the ten years he was a Padawan, but he knew it wasn’t the time for that. Besides, he liked hearing that Obi-Wan was in love with him, even indirectly, since he rarely said it. Anakin moved closer to him until their shoulders touched, content that Obi-Wan was allowing it, that he didn’t find him repulsive after having used the dark side. Anakin supposed that Obi-Wan admitting to his attachment to him meant that nothing had changed between them. Relief didn’t even begin to describe what he felt. All he had to worry about was what Padmé and Ahsoka thought of him.

“Won’t we get in a lot of trouble when they find out we’re gone?” Anakin couldn’t believe he was even asking that. It was like some kind of bizarre role-reversal.

Obi-Wan sighed. “We’re both in so much trouble that it doesn’t really matter at this point.” The turbolift doors opened, and Anakin followed him down the hallway. “The Order’s fighting forces are too thin, so when we do get expelled—and I have no doubt that we will be—it won’t be until after the war is over. They’re desperate, and our relationship isn’t new, so it’s not as if they’ll fear that it will get in the way of future missions. Well, not more than usual anyway.”

That made sense. “Won’t the war be over soon, though? Palpatine is dead, and he was obviously playing both sides.” He ignored the stab of pain in his chest at that betrayal, at his own stupidity for almost believing that Palpatine only wanted what was best for the galaxy.

“I don’t know what will happen now,” Obi-Wan replied as he shoved his arms into the opposite sleeves of his robe.

“I spoke with Padmé this morning.” Anakin grabbed his elbow to stop him and waited until Obi-Wan looked at him before continuing. “I know how she died. Please believe me when I say that I’ll never fall.”

Obi-Wan sent him a small wave of affection through their bond. “I believe you,” he said quietly.

Anakin wanted to kiss him, but even though they were alone and it wasn’t exactly a secret anymore, he didn’t think Obi-Wan would appreciate him doing that out in the open. Instead, he sent him his own wave of affection, just a little stronger. Obi-Wan gave him a quick smile and kept walking.

“Where are we going anyway?” Anakin asked. “I don’t remember there being any passageways around here.”

“Do you really think I never snuck out?”

“No. Wait, you did?” He so wanted to talk about anything that wasn’t related to the dark side or Palpatine, and Obi-Wan breaking rules was a perfect distraction. He couldn’t stand to be in his own head anymore. “How often?”

Obi-Wan chuckled. “Often enough. I went through something of a rebellious phase when I was a youngling.”

Grinning so hard his cheeks hurt, Anakin playfully shoved him. “You massive hypocrite! I need to know _everything_.”

\------

Practically collapsing onto the bench at the foot of her bed, Padmé felt completely drained of energy, but she knew it was pointless to try to fall asleep. All she did was replay the day’s events. How could Palpatine have hid such evil from everyone? She had wondered that before, but after having sensed the biting cold that emanated from him, Padmé just couldn’t understand how he could have held it all in so tightly that even the _Grand Master_ of the Jedi Order couldn’t feel it. And had Anakin turned to the dark side? She still wasn’t sure where the line was. How much of the dark side did a Jedi have to use before they were considered to be Fallen? Was Obi-Wan able to snap him out of it, or were they all in great danger? But Ahsoka hadn’t seemed too concerned, and she had a Force bond with Anakin, so the situation had probably calmed down. Or Ahsoka was a better actress than Padmé thought. She should have asked Ahsoka before she left.

Dormé came into the room after a quick knock. Padmé had asked to be left alone, but she knew they were all worried about her. “You have visitors.”

“Who is it?”

“Masters Skywalker and Kenobi.”

Padmé didn’t even bother to hide her shock. “You can let them in,” she said as she quickly stood and followed Dormé out.

Waiting for them in the meeting area, she realized she couldn’t remember the last time either of them had entered her apartment via the turbolift. They were always sneaking in through one of the balconies out of necessity. Anakin being allowed to leave the Temple didn’t seem very plausible, so her curiosity ramped up a notch.

Dormé must have guessed what her answer would be because she didn’t have to wait long. She ran up to them and gave Obi-Wan a fierce hug, but she hesitated before Anakin.

“It’s alright,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin couldn’t meet her gaze. “I didn’t fall . . . but I did use the dark side. If I hadn’t, you’d both be dead.”

There was no remorse in his tone, but he didn’t sound anything like he had on Mustafar. Still, she could only bring herself to give his upper arm a light squeeze before leading them to one of the couches. Suddenly, Padmé remembered that was where she first met Anakin after their ten years apart. _Things have changed so much since then._

“I can’t believe they just came right out and asked you,” Padmé said after Obi-Wan explained what had happened with the Council. “Will you be expelled? Wait, what about Ahsoka? Her master just broke all the important rules of the Code and then some.”

Judging by their reactions, they hadn’t even thought about that.

“Dooku was Qui-Gon’s master,” Obi-Wan said slowly, hand stroking his beard, “but he wasn’t a Padawan when Dooku turned. He wasn’t even alive. There’s really no precedent, so I’m not sure what will happen to her.”

Anakin was visibly upset, but he calmed down when Obi-Wan turned toward him. He didn’t say or do anything, but Padmé knew they shared a bond, one that she suspected was different from what Anakin had with Ahsoka. She never asked them about it since it felt too personal, and she doubted she could ever really understand it anyway, not that it bothered her. The relationships they all had with each other were different, but one wasn’t more important than the other. At least, that was how Padmé felt. She had more time invested in those relationships than either of them had.

Obi-Wan looked back at her. “I don’t know what they’ll decide, but I’ll be kicked off the Council at the very least.”

Padmé remembered he had said it was an honor to serve on the Council when he was first appointed, but he quickly became disillusioned with what they could actually accomplish. He’d said that it was probably better before the war, when there was a lot less bickering.

“What about Anakin?” she asked.

“Well, they don’t see him as a Sith. I’m not really sure what they think since the meeting went so off-topic.”

Anakin was uncharacteristically quiet, but she couldn’t figure out why. He usually wouldn’t shut up when he was troubled about something. “What are you thinking?” Padmé asked in a way she hoped didn’t sound judgmental.

His eyes flicked up before looking down at the floor again. “That whatever punishment is given to me, I’ll accept it. Knowing what I’m capable of, I’d have no right to complain.”

Before Padmé could tell him that he was wrong to think like he’d already brought about the end of the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan spoke up. “We are all capable of committing horrible acts, Anakin. Our decision not to commit them is what matters. And no one can be put on trial for what they _might_ do. Yes, you shouldn’t have used the dark side as there’s always another way, but you’re not evil. You made a mistake that ultimately saved the galaxy from a fate I can’t even begin to imagine.” He put his hand on Anakin’s shoulder. “But it does make me uncomfortable that it took you so long to come back to yourself.”

Padmé wanted to ask how long, but it wasn’t the right time. “I agree with everything Obi-Wan said, but it’s harder for me to separate what you did in the time I come from with what you _could_ do now. And I’m saying this in an effort to be open with you.” She looked between Obi-Wan and Anakin and thought about how everything fell apart in the days before she died. Anakin had lost his trust in Obi-Wan to the point where he didn’t even believe him when he said that he fought against the Council about Anakin becoming a spy. His erratic behavior had worried Padmé, and she knew he was keeping something from her. Padmé couldn’t let it spiral out of control like it had before. “I don’t want there to be any more secrets among us,” she said gravely, focusing on Anakin. She knew he still hadn’t told Obi-Wan about his mother. But he remained silent.

“I will always be honest with both of you,” Obi-Wan said. “That’s the one thing I haven’t struggled with when it comes to all this.”

“You weren’t honest about knowing Padmé was from the future,” Anakin mumbled.

“Ani, you do understand why we didn’t tell you, right?” Padmé asked, hoping he’d forgiven them.

He sighed. “I do, but it still hurts.”

“At the time, I thought we were doing the right thing, and I didn’t want you to think that I only saw a murderer when I looked at you. I’m sorry that I caused you pain.”

Anakin looked away and didn’t say anything.

Then Obi-Wan covered Anakin’s hand with his own, and Anakin closed his eyes, visibly relaxing. After a moment, Obi-Wan brought his hand back to his lap and turned to Padmé. “Do you know how the Senate reacted?”

“Bail told me. It didn’t go over well, as expected, but there hasn’t been any talk of wanting the Jedi’s blood. There’s going to be an official investigation.” She hesitated before saying, “I was thinking of looking into Palpatine’s office for evidence. Now that he’s dead, there’d be a lot less risk.”

Obi-Wan tilted his head in the way he always did when Anakin was retelling a story of something he did on a mission that nearly got him killed. “You were thinking about breaking into his office while he was still alive, weren’t you? I swear, the two of you are made for each other.”

She poked him in the shoulder. “You can’t compare Anakin doing things that almost get him sucked out into space or get his head chopped off to me sneaking into the Chancellor’s office.” While Anakin frowned at her, clearly offended, Obi-Wan merely raises his eyebrows. “Well, I didn’t do it, did I?”

“There shouldn’t be a need to. I’m sure it will be a part of the investigation.”

 _Oh, Obi-Wan. You think you’re always the voice of reason, but you can be just as reckless as Anakin sometimes._ She would never forget when he had literally jumped through her bedroom window to catch a droid in mid-air.

“I don’t trust whoever is running that,” she said. “How many of Palpatine’s friends knew of his true nature?”

“I can break in,” Anakin piped up. “I’m very stealthy.”

Obi-Wan actually snorted. “You mean like the time you stepped on a nest of small rodents on Devaron and alerted an entire company of battle droids to our presence? Or when you fell out of a tree on a scouting mission and landing in the middle of a Separatist camp?”

“That one was _not_ my fault! A swarm of poisonous bugs flew into my face!”

“And as I told you then, you don’t actually know that they were poisonous.”

“They still flew into my face. Anyone would have been startled.”

Obi-Wan didn’t look impressed. “Anyway, you’re the one who killed Palpatine, so it would look especially bad if you got caught sneaking around.”

Anakin glared at him, but Padmé knew he wasn’t angry. They were just play fighting. Before they could get into a real argument, though, she changed the subject. “I have to tell the Senate about my marriage.” They both looked at her in surprise. “It will get out eventually, and people will have the wrong idea if I don’t say it myself now. After all, it’s a connection to the ‘murderer.’”

Obi-Wan nodded. “Good point, but are you ready to face the reaction to such news?”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

Anakin let out a sigh of relief, leaning into the back of the couch. “I had wanted to tell the Council about us, and now I can.” He shot forward again, almost as if he had been shocked. “Are you going to tell them about Obi-Wan, too?”

“No, one thing at a time. It’s not relevant to the issue at hand anyway.”

“I think that’s for the best,” Obi-Wan said.

Then silence fell over them. It had been a long, chaotic day, and whatever was to come next would be entirely new territory for her. In a way, she was glad to finally not have any idea about what the future would bring. At least it couldn’t be any worse.

Anakin opened and closed his mouth before his eyes darted to the floor, and he tugged his robe around himself as though he were trying to hide inside it.

“What is it, Ani?”

He flinched. “I just . . . I keep thinking about the past twelve years. I thought he actually cared, but he only . . . ”

Obi-Wan grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest.

“We were all tricked by him," Padmé said. "Don’t blame yourself for not noticing, especially since you were only a child for many of those twelve years.”

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan, whose face had gone strangely blank, and hunched his shoulders. Had Obi-Wan said something to him through their bond?

When it became obvious that he wasn’t going to say anything further, Padmé got up and moved to sit next to Anakin. She didn’t have it in her to remain wary of him when he was behaving like that. Tucking a lock of hair behind his ear, she said, “You did nothing wrong. Palpatine emotionally abused you.” While Anakin merely looked confused at that, Obi-Wan visibly tensed. Padmé was beginning to understand what was going on. “What did Obi-Wan say to you?”

“He didn’t say anything, but I— Never mind.”

“Ani—”

He waved his hands back and forth. “It’s okay. Just forget I ever brought it up.”

She grabbed his hands and held them to her chest. “Anakin, remember what I said about communication? Don’t be afraid to tell us what you’re thinking or feeling. I’ve already seen what happens when you close yourself off to us, so please just tell me what’s wrong.”

Anakin sighed, pulling his hands away from her. “I feel anger and misery and guilt. They’re suffocating me, especially since those emotions aren’t my own.”

Padmé had figured that was the case. Of course Obi-Wan would blame himself for not noticing what was happening.

“The Chancellor was my friend. I _thought_ he was my friend.” His hand dug into his thigh, and Padmé was glad it wasn’t his right hand. “I always felt like I could go to him about anything, that he’d try to help me in whatever way he could. But he was-he was just using me. He was trying to turn me against the Jedi.” He perked up, eyes wide. “What if those visions I was having in the future were his doing? What if you were never going to die in childbirth, and he was just using that to manipulate me by saying he knew how to save you? Oh, Force. I almost took his side against you!”

Padmé reached out and stroked his hair, wishing Obi-Wan would try to help. “Ani, it’s alright. All that matters is that you didn’t take his side. He’s dead, and he can’t hurt you or anyone else . . . _right, Obi-Wan_?” She stopped herself from glaring at him, but she made it clear through her tone that she was annoyed.

Obi-Wan’s shoulders sagged. “Yes, she’s right. And I should have put up my mental shields. None of that was aimed at you, Anakin.”

Anakin looked at him, slightly wary. “I’m very familiar with those emotions myself, but I never expected to feel them coming from you.”

When Obi-Wan didn’t reply, Padmé stepped in, realizing that instead of wanting to ignore the situation, he just didn’t know how to handle it. “I think he feels responsible for how things ended up. He was supposed to be looking out for you when you were a Padawan, yet he missed the fact that a Sith Lord was trying to mold you into being his apprentice.”

“But I don’t— Obi-Wan, I don’t blame you. At least you were suspicious of him.”

“Not that he was a Sith Lord, though. Something about the way he spoke to you . . . I could never figure out why it bothered me.” Sadness and frustration were practically radiating off of him. “I should have been more attentive.”

“You did the best you could,” Anakin said. “I’ll be okay, eventually.”

They had all suffered, but Padmé was sure they would figure out a way to help each other to work through their pain.

“I still can’t believe you punched him,” Anakin said to her, smiling a bit.

Obi-Wan shot forward, eyes wide. “Wait, Padmé, you _punched_ him?”

She shrugged and looked at her right hand. The swelling had gone down from the bacta patch Dormé had made her put on, but her knuckles were still sore. “I was trying to get him angry enough to hurt me since I knew that was the only way Anakin would realize what he truly was.”

Groaning, Obi-Wan massaged his temples. “Between the two of you, I’m going to look and feel like I’m 70 by the time I hit 40.”

“Don’t worry. I’d still love you,” Anakin said as he patted Obi-Wan’s knee.

Obi-Wan swatted him away and leaned back, closing his eyes.

Padmé smiled at them, but then she had to stifle a yawn. Exhaustion was settling back in, and sleep didn’t seem like such a pointless battle anymore. “Both of you can stay here for the night, if you want.”

“Thank you, but if we don’t return soon, we’ll really be in for it,” Obi-Wan replied. “We just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

Strangely, Anakin didn’t argue.

Padmé hugged both Obi-Wan and Anakin goodbye and gave them a quick kiss. Anakin held her carefully, as though she might get frightened if he hugged her with his usual strength. After so much violence that day, perhaps he needed to be gentle. Before they parted, she whispered another apology into his ear, and the kiss he left on her temple felt like absolution.

Once they were gone, Padmé dragged herself to her bedroom and only just managed to pull the sheets back before collapsing onto the firm mattress. The last thing she saw in her mind was the look of pure disbelief Palpatine had given her after she shot him. Padmé fell asleep with a smile on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point onward, the Council really acts like a bunch of assholes. (While I do like some of the individual members, as a whole, they’re pretty terrible.) And in case anyone is wondering, the topic of Anakin’s mother will come up later. Just like Steela, Shmi is still very much alive.


	6. Chapter 6

“Little Soka!”

Ahsoka turned around and saw Master Plo down the corridor. It had been some time since she’d last spoken with him, and in that moment, she realized how much she missed her old mentor.

“How have you been?” he asked once he caught up with her.

At least Ahsoka knew that he wouldn’t look down on her for saying how she really felt instead of giving the stock answer everyone always wanted. “I’ve definitely been better. I’m really nervous about what’s going to come next. The Chancellor is dead, he was a kriffing _Sith Lord_ , and my master used the dark side to kill him.” She wrapped her arms around herself, trying not to let the anxiety take over. “There’s so much uncertainty right now, within the Order and the Republic.”

“Have faith, Little Soka. A great evil has been defeated. We just need time to adjust.” He paused, his head tilted ever so slightly. “Did you . . . know about your master’s relationship?”

“With Master Obi-Wan? Yeah, but I only just found out a few weeks ago.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me.” Ahsoka wondered what he thought of it, but she didn’t think it would be appropriate to ask. “What will the Council do, Master Plo? What’s going to happen to them?”

“The Council has made a decision, but unfortunately, I can’t discuss it.”

“Do you agree with that decision?” Master Plo was usually fair and not a hardliner like some of the other members, so if he agreed, it couldn’t be too bad.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, he said, “I do. Rest easy.”

She assumed that meant they wouldn’t be kicked out of the Order, or at least not yet. Being “The Team,” they were both seen as valuable assets to the war effort. Ahsoka hated to think of them in those terms, but it did make her feel a little better about their future.

“If you ever need to talk, know that I’m here,” Master Plo said.

“Thank you,” Ahsoka replied, smiling up at him gratefully.

\------

Padmé sat in the chair with the strongest sense of déjà vu she’d had since waking up in the past. She was among the very same senators with whom she had basically discussed rebellion with. But there was nothing to rebel against, no tyrant in waiting and no government masquerading as a democracy. There was no reason to be on edge like she was the last time they had all sat together, and she would feel at peace if it weren’t for the matter at hand.

“The Senate is to elect an interim Chancellor,” Mon Mothma said in her elegant voice. “If you weren’t a witness to Palpatine’s murder, Padmé, we would nominate you.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m flattered, but I think I’m done with ruling. What about you, Mon?”

“I have been thinking about it. It would only be temporary, after all.”

“But you’re against the war,” Bail interjected. “Those who are for it won’t vote for you. The Senate is too divided.”

Padmé shook her head. “The war will soon be coming to an end, so it doesn’t really matter.”

“What we need is a moderate senator,” Bana Breemu said.

“There is no limit to how many can be nominated,” Fang Zar said amiably, stroking his beard. “I say we nominate Senator Mothma.”

They spent a few more minutes coming up with names of those they trusted before their datapads went off simultaneously. The Jedi Order had submitted their official report of the events surrounding Palpatine’s death. It was rather lengthy, but as she skimmed the report, she noticed there was no mention of Anakin using the dark side. They probably viewed that as an internal matter.

Padmé kept thinking about what had happened to Ahsoka in the future. The Order expelled her to appease the Senate, so would the same thing happen with Anakin, or would everyone let it slide for the moment since he was so crucial to fighting in the war? Then again, would they really need him? Without Palpatine there to pull the strings, the war would begin to wind down.

Knowing that the questioning was to take place soon, Padmé felt it was time to give her friends a heads up. “There’s something I need to tell you all.” That immediately got everyone’s attention. She took a deep, calming breathe and said evenly, “Anakin Skywalker is my husband.”

They all stared at her in shock.

Bail was the one to break the silence. “I never suspected that you were actually married.”

“For how long?” Giddean Danu asked.

Letting the tension drain from her, Padmé removed her hands from the armrests and folded them in her lap. She expected their surprise, but she was relieved that they weren’t angry. “Roughly two years.”

“That is . . . a long time to keep that a secret. Does the Jedi Council know?”

“Anakin is going to tell them today since I’m going to preface my questioning with this information.”

“I think it’s a wise decision to tell the Senate, given the circumstances,” Mon said gently. “I’m not sure what the general reaction will be, though.”

Padmé lifted her chin. “I’m ready for whatever they throw at me.”

A short while later, when she was about to enter the rotunda, she realized just how nervous she actually was. But it was nothing new. As a queen, Padmé had lost count of how many times her hands shook or her stomach was tied in knots. That was when she was trying to make people’s lives better on just a single planet, though. Whatever happened in that rotunda could have dire consequences for the entire _galaxy_. She had to get the investigation off to the right start.

When she stepped out into her repulsorpod, everyone fell quiet. Padmé sat very still and kept her face expressionless, just as she used to as Queen of Naboo. Then she felt a slight pressure on her arm, but the only other person with her was one of her aides, who was very obviously not touching her. Something made Padmé look across the expanse, and there was Obi-Wan, standing by one of the entrances. She doubted that the Council let him come, so she wondered just how much more trouble he was in. He was too far away for her to make out his expression, but she gently inclined her head in acknowledgement.

Voting for the interim Chancellor was the first course of action. Padmé tried her best not to glare at the Vice Chair as he explained the rules everyone already knew. Mas Amedda was very close to Palpatine, and she was convinced that he knew Palpatine’s big secret. Once he was done talking, senator after senator shouted out nominations. A surprising number shouted Mon’s name. A senator could only be nominated by someone else, but they could decline their nomination. The interim Chancellor had to win by a certain margin, so it could take multiple rounds before a winner would finally be declared. Their term would last for two months, and candidates would run their campaigns for Supreme Chancellor in the meantime. She always hated the mudslinging that happened during many of the campaigns.

Padmé was amazed by how quickly it was all proceeding. It had to have been because the investigation couldn’t start until an interim Chancellor was elected. They all just wanted to get it over with. In the end, fifty senators accepted their nominations. She voted for Mon and waited. It would only take a few minutes to tally the votes.

“A second round will not be necessary,” Mas Amedda boomed. “Senator Mon Mothma of Chandrila will be the interim Chancellor of the Galactic Republic.”

A cheer erupted, and Padmé clapped along with everyone else, relieved. At least she knew Mon would replace Amedda.

Mon took her place in the central pod and gave a brief speech. “I will do my very best to make the transition as painless as possible. These are uncertain times, and I want everyone to be at peace while we sort out what actually happened. As my first act, I will shake off the emergency powers given to the Chancellor and restore them to the Senate.” Most senators clapped and nodded approvingly, much to Padmé’s disbelief.

Then a repulsorpod carrying two inspectors came forward. It was time.

Padmé felt another phantom touch on her arm, and she glanced at Obi-Wan as she brought her own repulsorpod forward. “Before I answer any questions, I would like to disclose something,” Padmé said as the cam droids flew around her.

“Go ahead, Senator,” one of the inspectors replied.

“I believe that it’s necessary to state that I am married to the accused.”

Instead of an uproar, there was a low murmur with only a few shouts of anger, and both inspectors were obviously taken aback. She had expected a lot worse.

“Thank you for divulging that information, Senator Amidala,” the inspector said after she recovered. “Now please explain the sequence of events starting from the time you entered Chancellor Palpatine’s office.”

She told them everything except for the fact that she knew he was a Sith ahead of time. It would be impossible to explain how she knew without discrediting her entire testimony. She pretended to be more ignorant about that Force than she was so that she didn’t have to say Anakin used the dark side. If the Council wanted to keep that under wraps, then she was happy to do the same. At least the inspectors weren’t aggressive, and while the atmosphere was rather tense, none of the senators interrupted her, not even Palpatine’s supporters. After she was done, the session was called to an end, and everyone began to exit the rotunda.

Padmé felt exhausted after describing everything she saw. She didn’t even want to go back to her office. She just wanted to lie down.

“You have a visitor waiting for you,” Dormé said when she entered the front room.

Padmé almost questioned why she let someone in at such a time, but then she saw the smile on Dormé’s face, and she knew who it was. Dormé had known about her marriage to Anakin after she caught them together, but Padmé wasn’t sure how she found out about Obi-Wan. Dormé was always good at keeping secrets.

Obi-Wan stood up when she walked in. “The halls were empty, so no one saw me come here.”

“Have they made a decision?” she asked uneasily, gesturing for him to sit back down.

He nodded. “I’m off the Council, as I predicted, and I’ve been demoted to Knight so as to strip me of the privileges afforded to Masters. Anakin is confined to the Temple, and he’s not even allowed outside on the Temple grounds. I’m thinking they don’t want to expel him just yet so that they can keep an eye on him.” Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair, expression grim. “I managed to convince them not to put him in an actual prison cell. After the war is over, we’ll both be put on trial. In the meantime, contact between us is forbidden except if a Council member is present. He will also have a Temple guard outside his door at all times and will be followed wherever he goes. Any kind of comm unit will be useless as they’re going to put up a jamming field around his quarters.”

It could have been worse, but Padmé’s heart sank regardless. Anakin was basically imprisoned. “But you’re free to leave?”

“I have no restrictions, except for the ones that come with being a Knight. Their reasoning was that I didn’t use the dark side, and they still need help with the war. When I asked why they’re waiting to put Anakin on trial if they’re not going to let him fight, I was told that Anakin ‘would be used only as a last resort.’” Judging by the look on his face, he was just as disgusted as she was at their choice of words. “But I doubt it will come to that.”

“And Ahsoka?” Padmé hoped the Council didn’t punish her for something she had nothing to do with.

“Her apprenticeship is suspended until after his trial, but she won’t actually notice any difference. She can still be sent on missions and have command over troopers. The Council was marginally suspicious of her, but she said everything was fine after they spoke with her.”

Padmé thought that was probably the only good news Obi-Wan had. “How did they react to him being married?” She cringed. “I’m asking a lot of questions.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “It’s quite alright. They weren’t even surprised by that point, but Anakin’s relationship with me bothers them more than his marriage to you. The Council holds Jedi in higher regard than civilians, and he’s spent more time around me than he has you. They feel there were more . . . opportunities for him to break the Code with me.”

Padmé almost laughed at the euphemism, especially since she knew they hadn’t even slept together yet. Then she leaned over and rested her hand on his arm as a form of comfort and a sign of her appreciation for him being there while she gave her testimony. “I’m sorry that you got demoted.”

“It’s fine. I got off easy.” He covered her hand with his own. “I have no regrets.”

She smiled at him, knowing that he was putting on a brave face for her. She didn’t doubt that he was very upset with the Council’s decision regarding the two of them, especially Anakin. She was trying not to think about how it would probably be a long time until she could see Anakin again.

“At least the Council either forgot or ignored the fact that we share a Force bond,” Obi-Wan said casually. “It would be impossible for an outsider to sever it anyway.”

Padmé’s curiosity finally got the best of her, and she thought it was an appropriate time to ask. “I’ve always wondered, what exactly can you do through your bond with Anakin?”

His expression blanked for a moment before he looked to the floor and shrugged. “In simple terms, if our mental shields are down, we can send emotions to each other. Since it’s strengthened in the past month or so, we can now also send thoughts to each other, as long as the distance isn’t too great.”

She had guessed the bit about their emotions from what little Anakin had said, but being able to send thoughts would help Anakin stay connected. How much could they really say to each other while a Council member was present?

“I can send messages to him for you, if you want. I’m not sure when you’ll be able to see him.”

“Thank you.” There was really only one thing she wanted to say to Anakin. “Just . . . tell him I love him.”

He gave her a sad smile, one she was expecting to be seeing a lot of in the near future. “I will.”

When Obi-Wan stood, she reached out to him and said, “At least that horrible future has been averted. Palpatine’s dead, and Anakin is still with us.”

“We should wait until the war is over and the Senate believes us about who Palpatine truly was before we relax. But yes. I would say that the worst has been averted, all thanks to you.” Padmé shook her head, but he continued. “If you had kept all that you knew to yourself, the future you lived would have happened again.”

“It’s not in my personality to give up.”

For the first time since Padmé woke up in the past, Obi-Wan gave her a kiss. “No, it’s not.”

\------

Ahsoka tried not to glare at the Temple guard standing outside Anakin’s quarters. Mostly, she was attempting to get over her nerves at seeing her master for the first time since he used to the dark side two days ago. Obi-Wan had told her that he hadn’t changed, but it was hard to forget the look on Anakin’s face as he stood over Palpatine’s body. She definitely understood how Padmé could be so wary of him. At the same time, Ahsoka knew that Palpatine would have done something awful to all three of them if Anakin hadn’t killed him. What mattered to her was that he hadn’t turned.

Anakin was sitting on his couch with a datapad in his hands when she walked in. He looked exhausted, but the second he saw her, he tried to hide it. “Hey, Ahsoka. How are you?”

“I’m fine, Master,” she replied as she sat beside him. “How about you?”

He shrugged. “I’m . . . I’m sorry if I frightened you.”

She wanted to say that it was alright, but it really wasn’t. Still, she wasn’t going to turn her back on him. “At least you didn’t take his side,” she said quietly. After a moment, Ahsoka realized she couldn’t stand the awkwardness between them. She just wanted things to be as they were, even though she knew they couldn’t be. But Anakin would always be her friend, would always be her family. She bumped her shoulder into him and smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t lose yourself.”

Anakin sighed. “Me, too.” He relaxed a bit and leaned back, eyes on the ceiling. “You know, I had been thinking about recommending that you take your Trials soon. You’ve grown so much, as a Jedi and as a person.” Then he looked at her, and a pleasant warmth traveled across their bond. “I’m so proud of you, Ahsoka.”

Not knowing what to say to that, she bowed her head and thought that maybe it was okay that everything would be different. Change was a natural part of life, and life was anything but easy.

Suddenly, Anakin’s back went straight, and his gaze shot to the door. Ahsoka thought that he had sensed someone approaching, but she couldn’t feel anything. Maybe being cooped up in his quarters for a full day was getting to him. While no one was prohibiting him from leaving, he probably didn’t want to deal with the stares and poorly concealed gossip. That had happened to some extent before, what with him being the “Chosen One,” but it had increased ten-fold after Palpatine’s death.

“Obi-Wan just told me that Padmé was called to the Council Chamber,” he finally said.

“I didn’t hear anything.” Besides, she thought there was a jamming field around his quarters.

“It was through our Force bond.”

She blinked at him in surprise. “I didn’t know that was even possible.”

Anakin shrugged, smiling a bit. “Our bond has gotten quite strong. It’s not like we can read each other’s minds, though. We have to actually project a thought for the other to hear it. Anyway, he’s not sure why she was called.”

“I’ll greet her when she lands and walk her back to her ship when they’re done.” At his odd look, she said, “Padmé’s my friend. She’ll probably appreciate seeing someone she knows who’s not glaring at her.”

He tilted his head and angled himself to face her. “The two of you are a little closer now.” It wasn’t a question, more like an observation.

“We are.” Smiling mischievously, she whispered, “And we’re gonna break into Palpatine’s office tomorrow.”

Anakin chuckled. “Just be careful.”

“I always am.” Then her smile faded, and her gaze dropped to the floor. She’d told herself earlier that if it looked like their relationship wasn’t going to be a disaster, she would apologize for helping to create the situation he was in. Of course, if he hadn’t used the dark side, there would be nothing to apologize for, but she did feel a little guilty. “I’m sorry. This is my fault.”

“What are you talking about?”

She waved her hand around. “This. The Council wouldn’t have known that you used the dark side if I hadn’t brought them. They wouldn’t have become suspicious about you and Obi-Wan either. If I had just—”

“Ahsoka, I don’t blame you.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. “I know you were only trying to help. If I hadn’t used the dark side, then having all those Masters there would have ensured Palpatine’s defeat. I just didn’t know help was on the way, so I got desperate.”

She frowned at him and gently tugged her hand out of his grasp. Ahsoka didn’t want to start a fight with him, but she couldn’t let that statement go. “Were you actually desperate, or did you just not care about using the dark side?” After all, he didn’t seem very remorseful about it.

He looked away from her and wrapped his arms around himself. “Both, I guess. I don’t regret it because I don’t know what he would’ve done to Padmé if I hadn’t killed him when I did. I could tell his focus kept going back to her after she shot him. I won’t ever use it again, though. I won’t become that . . . that monster from Padmé’s future.”

Sensing his fear, Ahsoka believed him. Master Yoda always said that fear was “the path to the dark side,” but did that apply when that fear was _of_ the dark side? Anakin was afraid of himself, of what he could do if he was pushed hard enough. She began to doubt if his future self had actually wanted to do those things. For the first time, she wondered what his mindset had been when he killed all those Jedi. It didn’t really matter since it was obviously never going to happen, but she would never forget what Anakin could do under the right circumstances.

The tension he’d been holding eased away, probably sensing that she wasn’t angry with him. “And I don’t care that the Council knows about me and Obi-Wan. It’s actually a relief, in some way. I don’t have to lie anymore, especially since I told them about Padmé. Um . . . how long had you known about all that?”

“Padmé told me a few days after she woke up here.” At his look of shock, she said, “You have no idea how much I wanted to tease you about it. At least I got to make Obi-Wan blush.”

Anakin laughed. “Padmé once made him turn so red that I thought he was gonna try to sink into the couch.” He held up a finger, somehow knowing what she was going to ask. “If I repeat it, Obi-Wan will kill me.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, disappointed. “How long have the two of you been a thing anyway?”

“About half a year.”

That was a lot longer than she’d thought. Ahsoka had looked back at past missions and tried to figure out when their dynamic had shifted, but she could never pinpoint it.

“His relationship with Padmé is much more recent, though.”

“You didn’t get jealous?”

Anakin was definitely the jealous type, but he almost seemed offended. “No. It’s not like they love me less because they like each other.” Smiling, Anakin shook his head and gave her a playful nudge. “You’ll understand love one day. Maybe you should contact what’s-his-name.”

It took her a second to realize who he was referring to. Making a face, she shoved him back. “Lux? Force, no. If I’d contact anyone it’d be— Never mind.”

Anakin raised his eyebrows, his smile growing wider. “Who would you contact?” When she only stared at him, he laughed and continually poked her in the shoulder. “C’mon, who?”

“Stop it,” she said as she batted his hand away. Not wanting to go back to reality quite yet, Ahsoka decided to keep the conversation going. She could stay a little longer before she had to go meet up with Padmé. “Fine. I’d contact Steela.”

“Oh! Really? Did something happen after we left?”

Ahsoka already regretted telling him, but at the same time, she felt indescribably happy that they could still talk like this. Just because so much had changed didn’t mean they weren’t still family.

\------

The ride to the Temple felt much longer than it actually was. Padmé wasn’t given a reason as to why they wanted to speak with her, but she figured it had something to do with her marriage to Anakin. For them to call her to the Temple rather than one of the members come to her office was strange, though. Perhaps the entire Council wanted to talk to her, but if she could handle the Senate with it’s over one thousand members, she could handle the Jedi High Council.

Before she had ever set foot inside the Temple, Anakin used to describe it to her, what was on each level and what some of the corridors and rooms looked like. He even tried drawing a map once. It pained her to know that she would be so close to Anakin but still not be allowed to see him. There was no harm in asking if she _could_ see him, but she had no illusions that they’d agree to a meeting, even a supervised one.

Once Padmé exited her ship, she was surprised to see Ahsoka on the landing platform. “I guess news travels fast.”

“The Jedi do love to gossip,” Ahsoka responded cheerily.

They were escorted by two guards, and they weren’t inside the main body of the Temple for very long before they reached the turbolift that would take them to the Council Chamber. Padmé didn’t see any other Jedi on their brief journey, which was probably why they had told her to land on top of the building. With her not going through the public entrance, they could make sure no one would see her.

After they stepped out of the turbolift, Ahsoka stopped her as the guards went ahead to stand beside the doors leading to the chamber. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

Padmé smiled. “You don’t have to wait. I’ll be fine.”

Ahsoka gave her a look that seemed to say _oh, you poor thing, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into_. “I don’t have anywhere I have to be.” And she sat down on one of the benches that bordered the anteroom.

It couldn’t be any worse than the Senate. Then again, she was out of her depth in the Jedi Temple. She was on their territory. All she knew about what went on in the Council Chamber was what Anakin complained about, which wasn’t useful in any context.

Taking a deep breath, she walked through the doors into the Council Chamber. Padmé saw that holograms filled about half of the chairs, and only a few were completely empty. She caught herself wondering which one had been Obi-Wan’s.

“Thank you for joining us, Senator Amidala,” Mace Windu said politely.

“Of course. I didn’t expect to be called before the High Council, but I can take a guess as to what this is about.”

“A copy of your testimony, we have,” Yoda said, ignoring her comment. “Questions of our own, we wish to ask you.”

Before Padmé could speak another word, she was bombarded with questions from all sides.

“What was Skywalker’s initial reaction to seeing you in the Chancellor’s office?”

“Had the Chancellor overtly threatened you?”

“What exactly did the two of you talk about before Skywalker showed up?”

“What sort of mood was Skywalker in before the duel began?”

“Why would the Chancellor reveal himself to _you_?”

Thanks to her political experience, she wasn’t overwhelmed. She answered each question calmly, her face carefully blank. If that was normal behavior for them, then Padmé could understand why Anakin hated going before the Council. He didn’t do well under that kind of pressure.

“If you are trying to intimidate me, which doesn’t seem like a very Jedi thing to do, then I’m sorry to tell you that it’s not working,” she stated plainly. “I only agreed to come here because I thought my cooperation might help Anakin, but you don’t have any power over me. I’m not a Jedi.”

“But your _husband_ is,” the Iktotchi member said.

Growing angry at the threat and with how they were treating her, Padmé glared at Yoda. “What do you want?”

“Divorce young Skywalker, you must,” he replied.

There it was, the real reason they asked her to come. The marriage wasn’t legally binding since they had used fake names, but the Council didn’t need to know that. “Not a chance. I’m sure you’ll expel him anyway, so what does it matter?”

“He may not be expelled,” Mace Windu said slowly. “If we keep him in the Temple, we can watch him. He’s too dangerous to be left on his own.”

She went cold instantly, the air leaving her lungs in a rush. “You can’t do that.” She barely managed to keep her voice from shaking.

“Yes, we can.”

“Then why are you telling me to divorce him?”

“It would be easier if his ties to others were severed beforehand,” said one of the Tholothians.

Padmé wished she had the ability to shield her mind because she knew they must have felt her horror at their words. They wanted to rip all of his “attachments” from him. They wanted to keep Anakin locked away _permanently_. Obi-Wan had once told her that there was a way to cut off a Jedi’s access to the Force, and she wondered if they were planning on doing that, too. Anakin would try anything to break out, and if he was desperate enough, he might even use the dark side. They wouldn’t chance it.

“Has he ever frightened you in the past?” asked the Cerean.

She remained silent as lying to a room full of Jedi Masters was pointless.

“Then you must understand. It is for the safety of others.”

“But he’s not a Sith,” she reasoned.

“Matter, that does not,” Yoda said gravely. “A part of him now, the dark side is. For a long time, it must have been.”

Padmé wanted to argue with them, but she knew their minds were already made up. And if she had learned anything about the Jedi, it was that they were incredibly stubborn. She had been reminded about one thing, though. They could be cruel. The Council thought they were doing the right thing, but if they only accepted that Anakin wouldn’t be a threat as long as he was free, truly free, then they would realize that they were only going to create a monster.

“Please reconsider our request,” Mace Windu said, clearly dismissing her.

_It’s not a request. It’s a demand._

She walked out of the chamber feeling numb. As Ahsoka had said, she was waiting for her. The guards left their posts and followed them onto the turbolift, meaning Padmé couldn’t tell Ahsoka what had happened.

“Is everything alright?” Ahsoka asked quietly.

Staring straight ahead, Padmé called upon her training to remain calm. “No.”

\------

Obi-Wan was brought out of his meditation by the shrill beeping of his comlink. He would be annoyed if he didn’t already know who was contacting him. He’d been waiting for Padmé to tell him what had happened with the Council, and the only way he could calmly pass the time was to meditate.

_“It’s bad, Obi-Wan. It’s actually worse than we thought.”_

When she was done explaining what the Council had planned for Anakin, Obi-Wan was furious. It had been a long time since he felt an anger that burned so hot. What was the point of all those restrictions and waiting to put him on trial if they’d already decided what they were going to do? It took him longer than he was comfortable with to release his anger into the Force. Thankfully, Padmé was patient, and she knew what his silence meant.

“I will act as if I don’t know,” Obi-Wan finally said. “They aren’t even aware that we’re friends, let alone lovers, so they won’t expect you to say anything to me. This way, the Council won’t suspect me of planning anything.”

_“I think that’s a good idea. Are you going to tell Anakin?”_

“I would like to wait until we’ve figured out how to tackle the issue, but I know Anakin would be upset with me for keeping yet another big secret from him.” He sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t exactly have the opportunity to speak with him alone, though.”

_“Can’t you just tell him through your bond?”_

“I would rather tell him in person. Besides, it still feels a bit strange to communicate through our bond. I don’t do it very often because of that.” If he told Anakin in person, it would be easier to calm him down. While he had every right to get angry, Obi-Wan didn’t want him to think that they weren’t going to do everything in their power to help him.

_“We can’t let the Council do this.”_

“Don’t worry, Padmé. I know we’ll think of something.”

With their backs against the wall, there was really only one thing they _could_ do. They were going to have to break him out and leave Coruscant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With Padmé and her senator friends, I’m referencing the deleted scenes from RotS where they basically created the Rebel Alliance.
> 
> The Council is just making new mistakes in this altered timeline. To be fair to Plo, because I do actually like him, the Council hadn’t decided to keep Anakin locked up permanently until after he’d talked with Ahsoka.


	7. Chapter 7

Padmé couldn’t remember attending so many closed sessions in the span of just two days. It was hard to believe it only _had_ been two days since Palpatine’s death, or his “assassination,” as some were calling it. And with each session, many senators were getting more and more agitated. Their desire to cause an uproar was grating on Padmé’s nerves.

“Skywalker needs to be put on trial by the Republic, not the _Jedi_!” one senator shouted.

Sounds of agreement rang out.

“We should wait until the investigation is complete,” Bail said. “The preliminary report that came out this morning stated that the lightsaber found at the scene did in fact belong to the late Chancellor. They found a contraption around his right arm that backs up what Senator Amidala said she witnessed.”

Padmé didn’t think Palpatine was always walking around with a device around his arm that carried his lightsaber. It was possible that he was expecting something to happen that day. After all, Anakin had confronted him that morning about being a Sith Lord, so the likelihood of Palpatine having to defend himself against a Jedi was much higher than usual.

“Senator Amidala should be removed from her position!” another senator yelled.

“I have not broken any laws,” Padmé said defiantly. “Marriage to a Jedi is not illegal, and I was not the one who killed Chancellor Palpatine.”

That didn’t mean she wasn’t in trouble, though. The scandal of her secret marriage to a Jedi was all over the news on her homeworld. Queen Neeyutnee had contacted her the previous day and urged her not to run for reelection. The queen hadn’t gone so far as forbidding her from running, but Padmé knew that her career was as good as dead after her term was up in a few months. She found that she wasn’t very upset about that fact. She would just find other ways to do good.

Mon raised her hand, signifying that she wanted everyone to settle down. “What she says is true. Please, this is not the reason this session was called.”

Eventually, Mon got them on track. They were to discuss the war again, which was already beginning to deescalate. Apparently, the sudden loss of Palpatine had dramatic effects. Padmé hadn’t realized how key he was to the operation of the war. Once Dooku and Grievous were taken care of, it should all be over, but no one had heard of any activity from either of them. Padmé only hoped the fighting wouldn’t get dragged out for too much longer.

\------

Ahsoka waited in Padmé’s office, not even the slightest bit nervous about what they were going to do. She was just glad that Padmé asked her if she wanted to help. Ahsoka’s Jedi skills would really come in handy for breaking into what was still a crime scene. If anyone was there, she’d know ahead of time, but if she managed to get caught off-guard, she could just mind-trick them since she’d gotten a lot better at that.

Really, she wasn’t surprised that Padmé wanted to do her own investigating. Ahsoka didn’t have much faith in the Coruscant Security Force either. Palpatine’s supporters in the Senate could potentially influence how the investigation was being handled, so it was time to take matters into their own hands.

“Let me just get changed,” Padmé said as she walked in.

Ahsoka chuckled. “Yeah, that outfit doesn’t look like it allows much room for movement.”

Once Padmé was ready, they made their way to the turbolift. Luckily, the only people they saw on the way were a few aides who were too busy to notice them.

“Stand against the wall,” Ahsoka instructed after they entered the turbolift. “If there’s a guard, they won’t see us when the doors open.”

Padmé nodded, and they remained silent for the rest of the short trip up.

The second the turbolift halted, Ahsoka reached out through the Force to see if they would be alone, and she sighed in relief, moving to stand in front of the doors as they opened. “All clear.”

Entering the office, Ahsoka felt a slight chill in the air. She knew danger was no longer present, but she couldn’t stop the shiver that ran up her spine. The evil that had let itself loose still clung to the room, making Ahsoka feel like she was being watched. _How had he managed to keep this hidden for so long?_ Looking over at Padmé, it seemed like even she could feel it.

“At least they replaced the transparisteel,” Ahsoka said casually.

“I’m sure they took care of that the same day it happened. The wind gusts can get quite strong this high up. Let’s look for any compartments in the walls or the floor,” Padmé said, acting like she couldn’t wait to get out of there.

Ahsoka nearly asked her if she was okay. They _were_ at the scene of a traumatic event, after all. But she kept her mouth shut and started going through the desk to see if there were any hidden buttons, resolutely ignoring the blood stain that hadn’t been removed from the carpet yet.

After searching the office for about ten minutes, they found nothing.

“Come on,” Padmé said as she headed for the entrance to his quarters. “There might be something in here.”

“I’ve been thinking. How will we even explain what we find? We can’t say we found it while snooping.”

“We’ll worry about that later,” she replied, clearly on edge.

Ahsoka shrugged.

In the small alcove before the entrance, Ahsoka sensed something that made her stop. She stared at the mural on the wall and let the Force guide her hand. Eventually, Ahsoka pushed against a part of the mural, and a small section popped out with an audible click. Padmé gasped beside her, and Ahsoka was shocked to find a datachip in the compartment.

“It probably won’t have much,” Padmé said, but she sounded hopeful. “It can’t be that easy.”

“Well, at least it’s something. Maybe we should split up.”

“Agreed. Meet back here in fifteen minutes. I don’t want to chance us staying any longer than that.”

While Padmé took the next room, Ahsoka went on through the curved corridor, closing her eyes and trusting in the Force. She felt like she was being pulled in a certain direction, so there was probably something else that was waiting to be found. Hearing the hiss of a door opening in front of her, Ahsoka stopped and opened her eyes. Before her was Palpatine’s bedroom, and she immediately felt her skin crawl. Ahsoka wanted to run back out, but the Force was telling her that something important was in that room. Cautiously, she walked toward the bed and knelt beside it. _Underneath_ , came a whisper in her mind. She reached under the bed with a steady hand and felt a metal ring on the floor. After she pulled it up, she felt mildly nauseous, and the air in the room changed. Ahsoka almost didn’t want to reach inside, but she knew she had to. It was a small, wooden box. Cradling it in her lap, dread mixed with curiosity, and after opening the lid, she found a Sith holocron inside. Despite never having seen one, she knew that was what it was due to the energy that was pulsating from it.

Ahsoka quickly closed the lid and willed herself to calm down. She remembered learning from her adventures in the Archives that Sith holocrons could only be opened with the dark side, so she wasn’t sure how useful such an object would be. Still, there was no way she was leaving it there.

Ahsoka was done searching. Even if there was something else to be found, she couldn’t stand being in Palpatine’s living space any longer. Just as she was exiting the bedroom, Padmé was about to enter. “We should go,” Ahsoka said quickly.

“Why? What is that?” Padmé asked, pointing to the wooden box.

“A Sith holocron. Please, let’s just get out of here. This place is really giving me the creeps.”

Padmé only hesitated for a few seconds before she nodded and turned around. It wasn’t like she wanted to be there either.

Instead of going back to Padmé’s office, they went to her apartment. They decided not to chance inserting the chip into a datapad in case it had high-level security. Ahsoka had heard of viruses being unleashed just for entering a wrong passcode.

“I know a senior Padawan who’s a pretty good slicer and doesn’t ask a lot of questions,” Ahsoka offered.

Padmé wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold. “Sounds good to me.”

Ahsoka laid a hand on Padmé’s shoulder in concern. “Hey, are you alright? You haven’t really been yourself ever since we entered his office.”

“I’m fine. It’s just, being back in that room was . . . Seeing Anakin like that reminded me of how he was on Mustafar.” She shook her head. “I hope what happened on Mustafar eventually stops bothering me so much.”

Ahsoka couldn’t imagine what having those memories must be like for her after having seen Anakin use the dark side, but Padmé was one of the strongest people she knew, so she’d be okay. “What should we do with the holocron?” she asked, sensing that Padmé didn’t want to talk about it any further.

“I guess we can ask Obi-Wan,” she said with a shrug.

Ahsoka smiled, pocketing the datachip. “He’s going to be pretty annoyed with us.”

Padmé actually rolled her eyes as she reached for her comlink. “I think we’ll survive.” It took him a while to pick up, and when he finally did, he sounded a bit groggy. “We need your advice, Obi-Wan.”

_“I’m sorry, ‘we’?”_

“Ahsoka and I broke into Palpatine’s office and living quarters, and Ahsoka found a Sith holocron that we don’t know what to do with.”

Ahsoka loved how matter-of-fact she was about it and had to stifle a laugh at Obi-Wan’s indignant squawk.

 _“You did_ what _?”_

“We weren’t caught,” she replied lightly.

 _“That’s beside the point.”_ He sighed, and Ahsoka could picture him digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. What did Obi-Wan expect when he had two enormous risk-takers as lovers? To be fair, though, Anakin was much worse than Padmé. _“You said you found a Sith holocron?”_

“Yeah,” Ahsoka cut in, “and I know those can only be opened with the dark side, so what do we do with it?”

 _“Bring it to the Council and let them decide. It’s the only thing you_ can _do.”_

She had a feeling he’d say that. It wasn’t like the Senate would know what to do with it.

“We also found a datachip, but we don’t know what’s on it yet,” Padmé said.

_“Even if it contains a decent amount of evidence, how are you going to explain its existence? People will think it’s completely fake or has been tampered with.”_

“I’ll come up with something.”

Obi-Wan sighed again. _“Ahsoka, please go straight to the Council. A Sith holocron is not something you can hide while in the Temple.”_

“I know. Don’t worry, Master Obi-Wan. I want to get rid of the thing as soon as I can.”

After they ended the call, Padmé walked her to her speeder that was hovering by the open veranda. “How much trouble will you be in?”

“I should be alright.” Ahsoka flashed her a quick smile as she jumped into the speeder. “I think they’ll be too distracted by what I’ve brought them. I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Padmé nodded and gave her a brief wave.

As she flew to the Temple, Ahsoka thought back to what Padmé had told her about the Council meeting, or more accurately, the Council interrogation. Knowing what her own possible fate had been, Ahsoka wasn’t surprised that they wanted to imprison Anakin for life without even giving him a trial. They clearly cared more about the Order as a whole than any individual Jedi. At least they weren’t going so overboard that they felt he needed to be killed, but maybe Anakin would actually prefer death.

People stared as she made her way to the Council Chamber. Considering she’d already heard whispers about how she might be a darksider, Ahsoka made it obvious that what they were sensing was coming from what she held and not from _her_.

While the Council was pleased that she was immediately surrendering the holocron, she still got reprimanded for breaking the law. It felt more like something they knew they had to say than something they actually cared about. Really, as far as the Council was concerned, the property of a Sith belonged to the Jedi. They tried to open it, but of course, nothing happened. Ahsoka wasn’t sure why they even bothered.

“There could be vital information inside that holocron,” Master Windu said, “but the only dark side users we know of are Ventress, Dooku, and Skywalker.”

Ahsoka bristled at the fact that he was putting Anakin in the same category as Ventress and Dooku. It was beyond insulting, and if they asked for his help, then they were the worst hypocrites.

She stood there for a few more minutes as they talked amongst themselves before Master Plo dismissed her. He seemed apologetic. She knew he didn’t like the position she’d been put in after Anakin killed Palpatine, but it wasn’t like he alone could do anything about it.

Ahsoka really needed to meditate to clear her mind, but when she reached her quarters, she found Barriss standing outside her door.

She bowed her head slightly in greeting. “Hello, Ahsoka.”

“Hey,” Ahsoka replied with mild shock.

She invited her in, curious to know if Barriss had finally made a decision about whether to leave the Order or not.

“I wanted to give you my condolences about your master. This must be very hard on you.”

Ahsoka wanted to defend Anakin, but she was just too tired. Instead, she nodded and remained silent.

“I’m going on a mission tomorrow. I’ve . . . I’ve decided to stay with the Order. I think the end of the war is in sight now, and afterwards, I want to start a campaign for change. It would be much harder to accomplish that from the outside.” Barriss reached out to Ahsoka but stopped short of actually touching her. “Will you join me?”

That managed to perk her up quite a bit. It seemed that Barriss was already at the point where she couldn’t just walk away. Padmé had said the bomb was meant to wake the Jedi up, that Barriss wanted them to realize how far they’d fallen from what they were supposed to be. The Barriss of the future probably thought she had no one she could turn to for help, and so she resorted to using violence. The Barriss of the present still wanted to affect change, but in a much more peaceful way, and it was then that Ahsoka felt she could finally relax a little when it came to her friend.

“I would like to help, but I don’t want to make things harder for Anakin and Obi-Wan if I try to rebel.” Ahsoka doubted anything she did would make it worse for Anakin, but there was still hope for Obi-Wan. “Maybe I can do something from behind the scenes.”

Barriss nodded. “That’s understandable. Anything you could do would be greatly appreciated.” She paused, looking down at her lap. “I still can’t believe the two of them have been in a relationship, Master and Padawan.”

“Their relationship started about half a year ago, so they hadn’t been Master and Padawan for a while,” Ahsoka pointed out. “If they’re happy and it doesn’t affect their work, why should it matter?” She cringed on the inside because it certainly _did_ affect Anakin’s job. When he cared about someone, romantically or not, he would do nearly anything to save them, even put others at risk.

“Because the Code forbids it.”

Ahsoka felt some of her energy return as she was finally being given a chance to voice her opinion on the subject. “We can’t go through life without having _any_ attachments. It’s impossible! Even friendship is an attachment, and the Council doesn’t say anything about that, so why should a romantic relationship be so taboo? The Code is outdated. Just as you said, there needs to be change.”

Barriss seemed to actually consider it. “You aren’t wrong,” she said eventually. “What will happen to you, though?”

“My apprenticeship is temporarily suspended, but I don’t know for how long.”

Even if they weren’t planning on keeping Anakin locked up, they’d never let her be his Padawan again. Who would take her as a Padawan after what happened? Well, Master Plo would, but the reason the Council hadn’t let him pick her before was because they were too close to each other. What happened to Padawans who lost their masters and never got picked again? Were they kicked out of the Order? Ahsoka wasn’t even sure she still wanted to be a Jedi.

Perhaps sensing her fatigue, Barriss stood and began walking toward the door. “I hope it all works out, Ahsoka. If you need anything . . . just ask.”

She was grateful for the offer, but she knew Barriss couldn’t help her. It was something Ahsoka had to figure out on her own.

\------

“Obi-Wan, we need to talk,” Mace said as he stood over him.

Obi-Wan had just finished eating his dinner in a very empty commissary. As soon as he’d walked in, nearly everyone walked out, some openly glaring at him. He was already used to the negative attention, even though it’d only been a week since word got out about his relationship with Anakin. It wasn’t as though he was expecting anything less.

“Oh, I can imagine that this will be a very _enlightening_ conversation,” Obi-Wan replied, getting up to throw away his garbage.

“You have to do something about Skywalker’s ‘good behavior.’”

He frowned. It was true that Obi-Wan hadn’t heard anything about him acting out, but he figured that was only because Anakin didn’t want him to be further punished. Sometimes, Anakin remembered that his actions had consequences not only for himself, but for others as well.

“I see you haven’t been informed,” Mace said. “Soon after the start of his pseudo imprisonment, Skywalker began refusing to eat or drink.”

Obi-Wan looked at him in alarm. He couldn’t believe Anakin didn’t tell him he was doing such a thing. No, he _could_ believe it. This was Anakin, after all. Obi-Wan had thought something was wrong the last time they talked, but he’d just assumed that Anakin was tired. Anakin had been keeping his mental shields up ever since their visit, so Obi-Wan wouldn’t have been able to figure out what he was doing through their bond. That alone should have told him that something wasn’t right. _How could I not have been more concerned?_

“I’ll talk to him, but don’t I need a chaperone?”

“I’ll go with you.” He didn’t sound happy about it.

“How does the Council even know about this?” Obi-Wan asked as they walked out.

“The guard checks in on him every so often to make sure he isn’t doing something stupid.”

Obi-Wan hoped Anakin did that only because he knew they were watching him so closely. Perhaps he thought he could make demands by putting his life at risk. No matter what his reason was, Obi-Wan was still going to admonish him. While humans could survive without food for weeks, water was a different story. If Anakin truly hadn’t been drinking at all, he’d have to take a trip to the medical bay. Why did the Council wait so long to act?

They found Anakin lying in his bed, looking absolutely miserable. Mace went to stand in a corner while Obi-Wan knelt beside the bed, and Anakin’s only reaction to his presence was a very slight smile.

“You must stop this foolishness. All you’re doing is hurting yourself.” Anakin still didn’t know the Council’s plan for him, and Obi-Wan wished he’d found a way to tell him sooner when his health wasn’t in a questionable state. When Obi-Wan tugged on their bond, Anakin didn’t respond at all. Not caring that Mace was watching them, he held Anakin’s hand between his own. “Please, at least drink something. Do it for me.” Eventually, Anakin nodded, and Obi-Wan was flooded with relief. “Mace, could you please get a glass of water?”

He raised an eyebrow at that. “You can’t be alone together.”

“And just what are we going to do for the minute you’re gone?”

After staring him down for a few tense seconds, Mace left, but not before giving him a warning glare.

“You need to strengthen your mental shields so that Mace isn’t alerted,” Obi-Wan whispered quickly. “The Council isn’t planning on expelling you. Instead, they’re going to hold you permanently because they see you as a threat, and as a threat, they want full control over you. They called Padmé in to tell her to divorce you because they want to sever your ties to everyone you care about.”

As expected, a murderous look appeared on Anakin’s face and his grip was almost painful, but his shields held.

“Calm down. We’re not going to let any of that happen. I just wanted you to know since we’re not keeping secrets anymore, remember?” _Even though you obviously kept one from me_ , he thought with a considerable amount of frustration.

Anakin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It seemed he didn’t have the strength to hold on to his anger for very long.

Mace returned and gave them a suspicious look, but all he did was hold out the glass to Obi-Wan.

Anakin sat up slowly and followed Obi-Wan’s instruction to take small sips.

“Will you eat something?”

After drinking about a quarter of the glass, Anakin said in a hoarse whisper, “No. I can handle it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you think you can ‘handle it.’ This isn’t healthy,” Obi-Wan argued. “Plus, I distinctly remember you complaining rather loudly about being hungry on several missions, whether as a Padawan or as a Knight.” When Anakin didn’t comment, Obi-Wan sighed, running a hand through his hair. “What are you trying to accomplish?”

Anakin shrugged.

“We can always just force feed him,” Mace said with growing irritation.

Obi-Wan turned to glare at him. “You will _not_.”

He knew there were painless ways to get liquid nutrients into a person, but he didn’t trust them to do that for Anakin. And that stunned him. He didn’t trust the Jedi to treat Anakin with any degree of compassion.

Obi-Wan was truly angry at the Order, that they let themselves fall so far. They’d been fighting in a war at the Senate’s beck and call, using clones who were bred for reasons they still didn’t fully understand, and now, because they were afraid, they were going to imprison one of their own and probably block his ability to access the Force, which was an entirely different kind of cruelty. Anakin was only dangerous if they pushed him.

He had never been above criticizing the Order when necessary, but those moments were few and far between. Now he felt like his mind had been opened. There needed to be change if the Order was going to survive. The war that was fabricated by the Sith had been slowly degrading their morality, and that was the whole point. The further they fell, the easier it would be to convince Anakin and the public that the Jedi were the real enemies.

“I want to see Obi-Wan unsupervised,” Anakin said, snapping Obi-Wan out of his thoughts.

“Out of the question.”

“Then I want to see Padmé.”

“No.”

Obi-Wan spoke up before things got heated. “I’ll speak with Master Yoda, see if I can get some of the restrictions lifted. In the meantime, please stay hydrated, Anakin.” He tugged on their bond to get him to lower his mental shields. _Please stop_ , he sent to him. _It causes me great pain to see you like this._

The corner of his mouth tilted upward, and that was the only warning Obi-Wan got before Anakin carefully leaned forward and gave him a peck on the lips. “Okay,” he said, looking smug. He clearly did that to annoy Mace.

“Alright, we’re done here. Time to leave,” Mace said in a tone that meant it had worked.

Obi-Wan gave his hand a quick squeeze. “Take care of yourself.” _Give me time_ , he sent.

 _I love you_ , Anakin sent back to him.

Even if it was merely a projected thought, Obi-Wan had trouble with that phrase. He’d only ever said it once, and it had made Anakin’s week. Obi-Wan was more of the opinion that actions spoke louder than words, but in their current situation, he knew he needed to get over his discomfort.

At the doorway, he looked over his shoulder and sent, _I love you, too._

The expression on Anakin’s face and the swell of utter joy he felt through their bond made it entirely worth it.

\------

“Hey, Ahsoka. I’ve got good news for you.”

She let Otrix in, hoping the good news was that they’d managed to get the information off the datachip.

“You said it’d be a challenge, and you really weren’t kidding. There was actually some sort of virus built in that would automatically corrupt the chip if it wasn’t inserted into a specific datapad. I’m familiar with that type of security, so I was able to stop it, and I transferred all the info onto a clean chip. I haven’t seen something like that in years. And then everything was in some kind of shorthand, which took a while to decipher. Seriously, I wanted to shake the hand of whoever was responsible . . . until I starting reading what was on it.”

“Otrix! You promised!”

They held up their hands, taking a step back. “I promised I wouldn’t ask questions. Don’t worry. I’m gonna pretend I never saw it.”

Ahsoka sighed. “So there’s enough on there to get people to believe us?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s way obvious that Palps was playing both sides. There’s nothing about the Sith, but it definitely shows that he was a traitor to the Republic. It looked like he used the chip as a way to keep track of what he was involved in.” Otrix scratched their head and looked mildly uncomfortable. “There was some disturbing stuff on the clones, too, but it was kinda vague. Anyway, here’s the chip. You already know how you’re gonna release the info?”

Ahsoka took the datachip and shook her head. She was hoping Padmé had come up with an idea by then. She hadn’t gotten the chance to speak with her ever since she let her know that the Council didn’t ream her out for breaking and entering. “Thank you, Otrix. This really helps.”

“You need anything else, just tell me,” they said with a grin.

Once Otrix left, Ahsoka prepared herself for whatever was on that datachip. It didn’t take long to go through all of the information, but Otrix was right. It was enough to show what Palpatine was really up to. She commed Padmé immediately.

_“Hi, Ahsoka. How have you been?”_

“I’ve been alright. Just getting used to my new pariah status. And you? How’s the Senate been?”

_“I’m fine, but I hope you’re not letting them get away with treating you like that.”_

Ahsoka smiled sadly, glad that Padmé couldn’t see her. She was trying to maintain as low a profile as possible, so as much as she would’ve liked to punch a Knight or two, she just pretended not hear what they said about her.

_“While there’s been some tension in the Senate, it’s not as bad as it could be. I’m hoping that datachip will help turn things around.”_

“Then I have some great news for you. I got the chip back—well, it’s a new one since the original had some nasty security measures in place—from my slicer friend, and there’s enough on it for the investigators to work with. I still don’t know how we’re going to present it as evidence, though.”

_“Well, here’s what I’ve been thinking. Give it to me, and I’ll send it to Mon anonymously. I’ll act like I had no part in it, even to Bail. Some will be suspicious of the datachip, but it’s all we can do at this point. At least with it going straight to Mon, the chance of Palpatine’s friends intervening is very slim.”_

It wasn’t a bad plan. Doing it that way, no one could claim Padmé had anything to do with the chip. Even if the inspectors had found it, some people would be suspicious, so there was no winning.

“Sounds like a plan. You should be able to prove some of the information. You and Bail probably came across it already, but without the known connections, it meant nothing at the time.” There was a knock on her door. “Someone’s here. I’ll give you the chip first thing tomorrow morning.”

_“Okay. Stay safe, Ahsoka.”_

“You, too.”

She didn’t sense any malice from whoever was on the other side of her door, so she hit the button to open it. An Initiate was standing there, looking up at her nervously. “Can I help you?”

“You’re needed in Master Yoda’s quarters.” And with that, the tiny Initiate ran off.

Ahsoka frowned, wondering why a Padawan wasn’t sent to deliver the message. Her curiosity was stronger than her apprehension about going to see Master Yoda, so she got there was fast as she could, but she definitely wasn’t expecting to have company.

Obi-Wan nodded in greeting as she walked inside.

“Your opinion, I want as well.” Master Yoda gestured to the unoccupied seat. “Close, you are, to young Skywalker.”

Sitting down, she glanced at Obi-Wan, but his expression gave nothing away.

“The restrictions placed on him, too much, do you think they are?”

“Yes,” Ahsoka replied instantly. “While I don’t like that he used the dark side, I’m not going to shun him for it. I’ve spoken with him, and he’s still Anakin. What you’re doing is forcing him into a corner.”

“Feel the same way, would you, if you knew that he had turned?”

She jolted back in surprise. “But he’s _not_ a Sith, so what does it matter what I would think?”

“Call upon the dark side, he can,” Master Yoda stated while shaking his head. “Fallen, young Skywalker has.”

Ahsoka thought back to her time with him a few days prior. His Force signature had felt a little off, but it was nothing that raised any alarms. She firmly believed that he was still himself. Looking Master Yoda straight in the eye, she said confidently, “That doesn’t change my answer.”

Master Yoda gave his usual, drawn out “hmm” and was quiet for some time. Eventually, he turned to Obi-Wan. “See young Skywalker alone once a week for two hours, allow it I will. Supervised, all other times must be.”

Obi-Wan’s shoulders sagged a bit in obvious relief. “Thank you, Master Yoda.” Then he stood, gave a quick bow, and walked toward the door.

Ahsoka bowed as well and hurriedly followed him, dying to know what brought that on. Before she could even ask, Obi-Wan told her about what Anakin had been up to, and she knew Obi-Wan well enough to notice that he was upset.

“Of course he would do something like that. He is such an idiot,” she said as she glared at the door in front of her. “Wait, whose quarters are these?” Ahsoka hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going.

“Mine,” Obi-Wan responded, hitting the button and stepping inside.

She’d never been inside Obi-Wan’s quarters, and she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to enter, so she ended up standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Once Obi-Wan realized that she hadn’t followed him, he turned around and waved her in. “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, thank you.”

She closed the door behind her and looked around curiously. It seemed the layout of his quarters was the same as Anakin’s, but the living space and kitchen were free of clutter. It was strange not to see droid parts littering the floor. Ahsoka sat on the couch, which lacked any burn marks, and watched Obi-Wan make tea. Anakin had told her once that the process of making tea—or as he liked to call it, “bitter leaf water”—was meditative for Obi-Wan. Sometimes, if he was really stressed, he wouldn’t even drink the tea. He’d just sit there with the warm cup held between his palms, and that was when Anakin would start to worry. Oddly enough, Ahsoka found that watching him was a bit calming.

After he handed her a cup, she explained Padmé’s plan for the datachip.

“It’s probably the best thing she could do,” he agreed, taking a sip from his cup.

“Are you going to see Anakin later?”

He shook his head. “Tomorrow. I want him to be more aware before we talk, so I hope he actually eats something and continues to drink. I’ll tell him what Yoda said about easing his restrictions through our bond. Perhaps that would give him some encouragement.”

“How different is your bond with Anakin from a regular training bond, besides the ability to project thoughts to each other?”

Obi-Wan shifted in his seat on the couch, his shoulders drawn up and eyes on the floor. “I don’t quite know how to describe it.”

Talking about any level of intimacy with Anakin obviously made him uncomfortable, but that could just be because it was her he was talking to. Him and Anakin made a strange pair, when she really thought about it. Anakin was very touchy-feely and emotional, while Obi-Wan was the exact opposite.

“Does the staring and whispering bother you?” she asked quietly.

Obi-Wan noticeably relaxed, most likely because she changed the subject. “No, I simply ignore it.”

“People have been talking about me, too.” She finally took a sip of her tea. It wasn’t bad.

There was a deep sadness in his eyes, making them appear more blue than grey. “We never meant for you to get dragged into this.”

“Because Anakin is my master, it was going to happen no matter how the Council found out about you two.” She shrugged. “Besides, I’ve heard more talk about me being a possible darksider than the fact that my master is in a relationship with someone. But when I do hear talk about that, they all seem to ignore Padmé, which almost makes me mad.” At Obi-Wan’s frown, Ahsoka said quickly, “It’s not that I want them to talk badly about her! It just rubs me the wrong way that your relationship with him is seen as, I don’t know, more important? Not that I claim to understand how this works when three people are involved. I barely understand how it works with _two_ people. I assume there’s more balance or— Okay, I’m going to stop now.” She was thankful that blushing didn’t show through her skin color like it did theirs.

But Obi-Wan wasn’t offended or embarrassed. Instead, he looked like he was trying not to laugh. “It’s alright. I know it’s confusing to someone on the outside. But I think they’re focusing on me only because they’re more familiar with me than with Padmé.” He sighed. “And just so you know, I’ve never worried about you using the dark side.”

“Did you ever have that worry about Anakin?”

He looked away from her. “Not until Padmé told me about the future she came from. Were you . . . telling Yoda the truth?”

She thought he would know if she had been lying. “I was. Anakin is my family, and I know he won’t use the dark side again, even if it really is a part of him now. Does Anakin know he’s crossed that line?”

Obi-Wan placed his cup on the end table and leaned back, stroking his beard in thought. “I don’t think he actually has. I had looked up Fallen Jedi in the Archives, and to fall means you no longer use the light side. I’m not sure why Yoda has changed the definition, but I didn’t bring it up to him because it doesn’t really matter in the end. However, I’ll have to tell Anakin since it will affect him at some point.”

That made her feel a little better.

Ahsoka realized that they’d been talking for quite a while—it was the longest conversation she’d ever had with Obi-Wan—and she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. She quickly finished her tea and asked if he wanted her to put his cup in the sink as well.

“No, no. It’s fine. I don’t mind drinking it cold.”

“You won’t heat it up?”

His eyes widened, and he put a hand to his chest. “I would never commit such blasphemy.”

She laughed on her way to the kitchen. It was nice to interact with him so informally. They were never close in the way she was with Anakin, and that was to be expected, but he was still important to her.

“I hope your talk with Anakin goes well tomorrow.”

“Knowing him, it probably won’t, but I’ll try to be optimistic.”

She had no doubt that it was going to be a disaster. Ahsoka was only glad she wouldn’t have to witness it. “Oh, and Master Obi-Wan?”

“Yes?”

She smiled at him. “You’re my family, too.”

Obi-Wan looked startled at first, but then he smiled back and said, “You’re mine, as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Padmé wasn’t such a risk-taker, the galaxy would still be in a lot of trouble. And as always, Anakin is very dramatic, but at least something good came out of it.


	8. Chapter 8

Padmé looked at the datachip in her palm and hoped it would be enough to start easing tensions within the Senate. While Palpatine’s death had made certain things easier, it hadn’t solved the problem of trying to prove to the Senate, and to the Republic as a whole, that their Chancellor was just biding his time until he could take over the entire galaxy. Many senators were getting impatient since the investigation hadn’t come up with anything beyond the fact that Palpatine used a lightsaber. While some saw that as evidence that he was indeed a Sith Lord, most still weren’t convinced.

“There’s some information on the clones,” Ahsoka said. “Maybe he was able to control them somehow, and that’s why they turned on the Jedi in the future.”

Padmé raised her eyebrows at that. “Bail and I were trying to look into the clone army to see if there was a connection. I guess we were on the right track after all.” She sealed the chip in a bag and put it in a secret compartment in her desk. “What about the holocron?”

“No idea. The Council’s keeping quiet about it,” she replied with a shrug. “Did Obi-Wan tell you about the stupid thing Anakin did?”

“Yes, he told me last night.” Padmé had wanted to strangle Anakin for not only doing something so reckless, but also for not telling Obi-Wan, especially since she thought they weren’t going to keep secrets from each other anymore. “I wish I could see Anakin, but I doubt I’d even be allowed _near_ the Temple.”

“What if I snuck you in?”

Padmé almost considered it, but she didn’t want to get Ahsoka in trouble. “Thank you for offering, but it’s okay. I’ve gone much longer without seeing him before. At least this time I don’t have to fear him getting killed.”

She nodded. “Do you know if we’re safe when it comes to the break-in?”

“I haven’t heard anything, so I think we are.” It had been three days, so if the inspectors hadn’t figured it out yet, either they weren’t very competent, or Padmé and Ahsoka had been careful enough to avoid arousing any suspicion. “How has it been at the Temple? Obi-Wan won’t really give me an answer.”

Ahsoka hesitated. “Well, many Jedi want Anakin to actually be locked up and have Obi-Wan kicked out of the Order immediately.” She rubbed her forearm, looking self-conscious. “And I’m not sure what will happen to me if no one chooses me as their Padawan. I don’t think I can take the Trials without having a master, but I haven’t actually looked into it yet.”

Padmé knew there was still some uncertainty as to what would happen to her in the end. “I’m sorry, Ahsoka. I wish you could have come out of this unscathed. It’s all become such a mess.”

“It’s not your fault. I’m sure . . . it’ll work out somehow.”

Out of all of them, it seemed that Padmé was the least affected. She wondered if it was because most people had already assumed her and Anakin were together. No one outside the Order knew about him using the dark side, so that didn’t affect her standing, but it probably wouldn’t mean much to non-Force-sensitives anyway.

She just hoped that her plan for the datachip would be successful and that the investigation would conclude soon. Even if Dooku and Grievous were taken care of in the next day, the Separatists weren’t going to sit down with them with the investigation still ongoing.

\------

Anakin had a very small breakfast that morning, but just with drinking a little water or juice every hour since Obi-Wan had visited, he wasn’t nearly as lightheaded. He felt a guilty for upsetting Obi-Wan as much as he had, even though he got what he wanted. Anakin realized that if Obi-Wan starved himself and didn’t tell him about it, he would have reacted the same way. Well, he wouldn’t have been as calm about it as Obi-Wan had been.

He wondered how Obi-Wan was handling being an outcast. During his first supervised talk with Obi-Wan, he was told what their punishments were by Agen Kolar. He’d expected to be thrown into an actual prison cell, so he wasn’t terribly distressed about his situation, but he was angry that they had went so far as to demote Obi-Wan. That really wasn’t necessary, especially since they were just going to expel him after the war was over. It felt like they were just trying to humiliate him. Obi-Wan didn’t seem very bothered by it, though, and that wasn’t him merely putting on an act in front of Kolar. Anakin had decided that if Obi-Wan wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, then he wouldn’t either. That was probably what the Council expected anyway, and he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of being right.

Anakin couldn’t stop thinking about what the Council had planned for him. His view as a child that he’d traded one set of chains for another turned out not to be wrong after all. Even if he could escape the Temple, what would happen to Padmé and Ahsoka? The Council had already confronted Padmé, and he wasn’t even sure he wanted to know to what extent. He had no doubt that Obi-Wan would follow him, but what if the Council threatened Padmé into telling them where they escaped to? What if they kicked Ahsoka out in retribution?

Suddenly, the door opened and Obi-Wan entered, _just_ Obi-Wan. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t sensed him coming. Anakin practically ran over to embrace him, but because he stood so quickly, his vision blacked out for a few seconds. Obi-Wan caught him, and when his vision returned, he hugged him so tightly that Obi-Wan repeatedly tapped his back.

 _I can’t breathe_ , Obi-Wan sent to him. _Where is this strength even coming from?_

“Sorry,” Anakin murmured before he kissed him.

He desperately wanted more with Obi-Wan, but he wasn’t going to push him. He’d promised himself that he would never make Obi-Wan do anything he was uncomfortable with, which meant they had an awkward conversation every now and then about what was okay to do and what wasn’t. Anakin wasn’t very good at reading body language, so he needed to be told. Padmé had said that some people just weren’t into sex at all, but he didn’t think that was the reason. Although Obi-Wan hadn’t come right out and said it, he felt it was the emotional aspect that bothered him. Anakin knew he could be very . . . passionate, and considering the fact that Obi-Wan had lived most of his life repressing his emotions, he could see that being the real issue. Of course, it had taken him over a month to figure that out.

“We only have two hours, and there is much to discuss,” Obi-Wan said after he pulled away.

Anakin got one last kiss out of him and then sat back down on the floor cushion. “I know, but there’s something I need to tell you. I want to be completely honest about everything, even if you’ll be disappointed in me.” He waited for Obi-Wan to grab the other floor cushion and sit in front of him before continuing. “Do you remember the dreams I had about my mother? The ones you brushed off?”

Obi-Wan tucked his arms into the opposite sleeves of his robe. “Yes, I remember.”

“Padmé and I went to Tatooine after I told her about my nightmares. I found out that my mother had been freed and was married, but when we got to her home, she had already been taken by the Tusken Raiders weeks earlier. Her husband and a few others . . . they had tried to find her, but . . . ” He clenched his fists in his lap. Anakin had never actually talked about it with anyone, and he had to take a few calming breaths before he could go on. “I went out into the desert . . . and found the camp where she was being held. They had _tortured_ her.” Anakin wiped his eyes quickly before the tears could fall. “But I wasn’t too late. She was still alive, and if she got help soon, I knew she’d make it. I-I killed those who got in my way. Many of them ran, and I would have went after them if I didn’t have a time limit. I wanted . . . I wanted to kill them all.” Anakin took a few more deep breaths and looked to the floor to avoid seeing whatever horrible expression he was sure was on Obi-Wan’s face. He could already feel his shock through their bond. “She survived, and I’ve kept in contact with her ever since, but I haven’t actually seen her. With the war, there just hasn’t been any time, even when I was on Tatooine to return Jabba’s son.” His mouth twisted in disgust at the memory. “I’m sorry I never told you.”

Obi-Wan sighed and brushed against his mind in apology. “And I’m sorry I didn’t take your dreams seriously.”

Anakin’s head snapped up at that, eyes wide. “You’re not mad?”

“No, Anakin, and I’m not disappointed in you either. You could have told me sooner. You’re already breaking the Code when it comes to attachments anyway. So am I, for that matter.”

“And . . . and the killing?”

Obi-Wan drew his shoulders up as he looked to the side. “It does concern me,” he admitted quietly, “but it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

It was like a small weight had been lifted off his chest, and he sent a wave of gratitude. “Would you want to meet my mother someday?”

Obi-Wan met his gaze and smiled. “I would like that.”

Anakin felt warm, and a tranquility he had never been able to achieve settled over him. It was probably Obi-Wan’s doing, but he didn’t really care. Padmé had been right, as always. He should have told him a long time ago. Sensing that Obi-Wan had something else he wanted to say, Anakin gave him a gentle nudge through their bond, and that tranquility slowly left him.

“How did it feel to use the dark side?”

That wasn’t what Anakin was expecting, but he wasn’t angry at him for asking. He took his time to gather his thoughts since he couldn’t just blurt out whatever popped into his head like he usually did, not with this subject.

“You don’t have to tell me if—”

Anakin waved a hand at him dismissively. “No, I’m just trying to think before I speak.”

Obi-Wan huffed out a laugh. “Well, then I apologize for interrupting this miracle that’s occurring before me.”

Hitting him lightly on the knee, Anakin attempted to think back to Palpatine’s office. Closing his eyes, he said, “It was a rush of power I’ve never felt before, like . . . like electricity buzzing under my skin. It made me feel invincible, and I could do things with the Force I never thought were possible. There was nothing holding me back.” He opened his eyes, frowning. “But I didn’t like the bloodlust that came with it. After I cut off his hand, I’d managed to rein my anger in enough that I realized we needed to work together. I still couldn’t kill him on my own, even with the power of the dark side.” Anakin couldn’t get a read on Obi-Wan’s reaction, either visually or through the Force, and it was making him nervous. “What are you thinking?” he asked quietly.

Obi-Wan remained silent, and he wouldn’t look at Anakin.

“You said you would always be honest with me and Padmé, remember?” The rising panic made his voice crack.

All Obi-Wan did was sigh.

It felt like ice water had been dumped over him. What if Obi-Wan actually hated him? “I’m sorry! I swear I’ll never use it again! I’m sorry I don’t regret using it to kill him! I’m sorry that I—”

“Peace, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, holding out his hand in a placating manner. “I’m not upset with you, but at the same time, I’m not really sure how I feel about it.”

His panic subsided a little.

“The dark side is still with you, barely there when you’re calm, but I have no trouble sensing it when your emotions go wild.” Obi-Wan looked at him in a way that meant he was about to say something extremely important. “Yoda is claiming that you fell, even though you don’t fit the historical definition of a Fallen Jedi.”

Anakin went completely still, his breathing shallow. _I fell? Shouldn’t that be something I’d know myself rather than having to be told?_ It was true that he could still feel the presence of the dark side, but he just assumed it would go away with time. Obi-Wan must be sickened by him. How could he even stand to be in the same room as Anakin?

Obi-Wan perked up. Since Anakin’s mental shields were down, he knew Obi-Wan could feel his distress. Obi-Wan reached out to him, but Anakin shot away from him so quickly that he fell back onto his elbows, looking at Obi-Wan in pure terror. All he could think was that Obi-Wan hated him, that he would abandon Anakin and let him rot in a cell for the rest of his life. Even Padmé wouldn’t be able to help him then, but she would probably hate him, too, when she found out. She would just think about his future self and how he had _killed_ her.

“Nothing has changed, dear one,” Obi-Wan said, almost nervous. “You haven’t actually fallen because you’re still of the light.”

“But the Council thinks I fell!”

Obi-Wan reached out again, and when Anakin finally concentrated, he realized that all he could sense from him was sadness, not hatred or disgust. He truly didn’t believe that Anakin had turned to the dark side. Sitting up cautiously, he let Obi-Wan gather him into his arms, and Obi-Wan didn’t say a word as Anakin cried silently into his shoulder.

***

Both of his lovers had cried on him within a few weeks now. Hopefully, he was set for at least a year. While Obi-Wan was always uncomfortable around people who were crying, he knew physical contact usually helped calm Anakin down, so he was going to hold him for as long as he had to. Obi-Wan was thankful that he’d gotten over his uneasiness about physical forms of affection. Learning to accept them had been easier than initiating them, but Anakin’s obvious happiness from a quick brush of fingers against his cheek or a hand at the small of his back had given Obi-Wan enough encouragement to try harder. That didn’t mean he had any real idea as to what he was doing, though. Every time, he just hoped that the effort was appreciated, even if he was making a mistake.

Eventually, Anakin pulled away from him and scrubbed at his face with his sleeve. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know you don’t like it when people cry in front of you.”

“It’s alright. I understand that it’s what you need. Since you’ve never really mastered the ability to release your emotions into the Force, it’s better for you to get them out as a non-Force-sensitive would rather than keep them inside until you explode.” Anakin often did that when he was younger, and it had taken Obi-Wan far too long to realize why.

Anakin smiled, mildly surprised, and gave him a lingering kiss.

Sometimes, Obi-Wan wondered if Anakin became extra affectionate just to test his boundaries. He actually preferred that to the embarrassing conversations Anakin insisted on having, even though Obi-Wan knew that was the mature thing to do. He had to admit that he was impressed with the way Anakin was continuing to handle the issue, but he figured that Padmé was helping him. Out of the three of them, she was the well-adjusted one who actually understood how relationships were supposed to work.

“Before I forget, is there anything you want me to pass along to Padmé?”

Anakin’s smiled faded. “Just that I love her, and I think about her every day.”

Obi-Wan didn’t say that that was the same message he had for her the last time he’d asked.

“We should come up with a plan,” Anakin said in a jarring change of subject. Thinking about his wife probably hurt too much.

Getting to his feet, Obi-Wan replied, “There’s no point in trying to convince the Council to change their mind.” _Especially since I’m sure Yoda has them all thinking you’re a Fallen Jedi_ , he thought. Obi-Wan sat on the couch to give his protesting knees a break, and he could tell by the way Anakin was pressing his lips together that he was holding back one of his “old man” comments. “All I can think of is to sneak you out of the Temple, and then get you off of Coruscant.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

Anakin pushed himself up onto the couch and almost immediately grabbed Obi-Wan’s hand, bringing it into his lap to hold there. Sensing that Anakin was still recovering from his earlier outburst, Obi-Wan let him.

“But what would happen to you, Padmé, and Ahsoka?”

“Well, I know they’re going to expel me once the war is over, so of course I’m leaving with you. I don’t even care that they’re planning on just using me to fight.” Anakin squeezed his hand, clearly irritated that he would think of himself that way, but Obi-Wan ignored him. “The Council has no power to do anything to Padmé, but the Senate might retaliate, so we’ll have to wait until you’re cleared by the investigation. Her and Ahsoka found a datachip that proves Palpatine was betraying the Republic, and as long as the information can be corroborated, I don’t think the investigation will go on for much longer.” The pride he felt through their bond made him frown. “You knew they were going to break into his office, didn’t you?”

Anakin shrugged. “Maybe.”

Obi-Wan nearly rolled his eyes. “Anyway, as for Ahsoka, I’m not sure what would happen to her. I’ll have to speak with Plo about that.”

“Can we trust him? He _is_ on the Council.”

“And so was I.”

“Not when they made that decision.”

“You know that just because the Council makes a decision, it doesn’t mean that it was unanimous. Besides, I was approached by him the other day, and he said he doesn’t agree with the direction the Council is going in with regards to your punishment. I think he was trying to warn me without actually giving anything away. None of them are aware that I know what they’ve decided to do to you.” He could feel Anakin’s anger begin to take shape, so he brought their joined hands into his own lap. “At the very least, Plo cares about what happens to Ahsoka.”

“That is true,” Anakin said slowly, calming down.

“I know which passageway we should use, but being able to escape undetected will be a challenge. We have some time to figure it out, though. Both the war and the investigation have to be over before we do anything.”

Anakin nodded before he put a hand on Obi-Wan’s cheek and kissed him. It was a gentle kiss, but there was a hint of desire behind it. “Please. I need to get out of my head,” he whispered.

Even if Obi-Wan thought he was finally at the point where he wouldn’t panic, he would feel like he was taking advantage of Anakin when he was in such an emotional state. He figured it would be better to give a practical reason for his rejection, though. “You nearly blacked out earlier, so I don’t think that kind of . . . physical activity would be wise.”

“I’m fine now.” He kissed him again. “I ate this morning, and I’ve been drinking plenty of water.”

“Perhaps another time, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said firmly.

Then he recoiled, eyes downcast. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t.” He rubbed his thumb over the back on Anakin’s hand as a sign that he wasn’t upset with him.

Eventually, Anakin moved closer to Obi-Wan and rested his head on his shoulder. “Talk to me?”

“About what?”

“Anything.”

The best way to distract him was to tell stories about his childhood. Anakin always loved hearing about Obi-Wan’s past, and Obi-Wan knew which stories to steer clear of. Anakin didn’t want to hear about what he considered to be cruelty, even though Obi-Wan never looked at it that way. That was the difference between being raised by a loving mother and being raised by a kind, yet distant, crèche master. Obi-Wan wondered what Anakin’s mother would think of him, what Anakin had already told her about him. He had no idea just how much contact they’d had, but he couldn’t imagine Anakin not telling his mother about his relationships, unless he was afraid that their connection wasn’t secure.

Anakin’s mood slowly brightened with each story, and his head ended up in Obi-Wan’s lap at some point. When Obi-Wan started running his fingers through Anakin’s hair, he could feel him relax almost completely, and by the time their two hours were up, Anakin had actually fallen asleep.

_I swear I’ll protect you. I won’t fail you like I did with Palpatine._

\------

“Padmé! Did you hear?” Bail asked as he walked into her office, a huge smile on his face.

She put her datapad aside and stood up to go to the sitting area. “Hear about what?”

“We finally have some proof! Mon just made an announcement about the existence of a datachip she’d received anonymously, and all of the information on it will be made public once the investigation is complete.” After he sat with her, he continued, “Mon told me that as long as everything on it can be verified, the investigation should be over in about a week.”

His excitement was infectious, even though she already knew what was on the chip. “That’s such great news, Bail. So she thinks the information on it will be enough to prove that Palpatine was secretly running the war?”

“She does. There will be some pushback from Palpatine’s supporters, of course, but they’re in the minority. There won’t be much they can do if the rest of the Senate agrees with the investigation’s findings.”

“What about him being a Sith Lord?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea, but it’s not like it would be a stretch to believe that after everything comes out.” Then Bail gave her a sympathetic look. “How have you been doing, Padmé?”

Sighing, she replied, “I’m alright, but I’ll feel a lot better once everyone finally believes what we’ve been trying to prove.”

“And Skywalker?”

She looked down at the table in front of them. “He’s fine, for the most part. I get updates from Obi-Wan. I’ll be able to see him again once things settle down.” Padmé found it easy to tell that lie, mostly because she wished it was true.

Her comlink went off, and Padmé somehow knew it was Obi-Wan. She motioned for Bail to stay when he tried to excuse himself. “Hello, Master Kenobi. I hope you’ve been well.” With her calling him that, Obi-Wan would know she wasn’t alone.

_“I have been. I hope you’re doing well yourself, Senator. I wanted to give you some good news. We’ve located Grievous, and I’m to leave within the hour to confront him.”_

“That is indeed good news. Any word yet on Dooku?”

_“None, but he should be making an appearance soon. It’s not his style to hide forever.”_

“Well, I wish you the best.”

_“Thank you. Goodbye, Padmé.”_

She wondered if he’d used her name on purpose or if it had slipped out, but it wasn’t like Bail would comment on it. He knew they were friends. “Goodbye, Obi-Wan.”

He had killed Grievous in the future, so she wasn’t worried, but Padmé had never found out exactly what happened to Dooku since Obi-Wan himself didn’t know. The Security Force had searched the crashed ship, and all they found was a severely mangled body that was missing a head and both hands. When Obi-Wan had asked Anakin what happened after he was knocked out, all Anakin said was that he did what had to be done. But Obi-Wan confided to her that Anakin had looked haunted when he said it. Maybe Palpatine had persuaded him to do something he hadn’t actually wanted to do.

“I hope this means the war is truly coming to an end,” Bail said, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Do you think the Separatists will rejoin the Republic?”

“Realistically, no, but I’m not sure what they think about Palpatine’s death and the accusations that he was a Sith Lord playing both sides.”

Padmé knew it could have been so much worse, and she would rather the galaxy be split than be united as the Galactic Empire. She was hoping that the shared outrage at having been pawns in Palpatine’s game for power would be enough to bring the Republic together again.

Bail nodded. “As Mon had said, these are very uncertain times. She wants to start negotiations once the investigation is complete, but with Grievous and Dooku still out there . . . Dooku was most likely taking orders from Palpatine. We have no clue what he has planned now that he’s completely on his own.”

“Well, I’m sure that Dooku also wanted power. It’s my understanding that that is what the Sith are all about. He definitely won’t go down without a fight.”

“Who do you think the Jedi will send after him?”

There was no doubt that Anakin had killed him in the future, but that obviously wasn’t going to happen in the new timeline. “He was Yoda’s apprentice, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to take care of him.”

Bail ran a hand through his hair, an uncharacteristic show of anxiety. “Let’s just hope this all ends very soon. There haven’t been any major battles since Palpatine’s death, so at least the amount of bloodshed has gone down drastically.”

“What do you think will happen to the clones after the war is over?”

He looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t know, but I’d like to put a motion through that would allow them to leave the army, if they so choose.”

“I’d vote for that in a second.” But she also wanted the clones to get checked out medically. The information about the clones on the datachip worried her, even though it was rather vague. “Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves, though. Until the Republic and the Confederacy are actually sitting down together, we are still technically at war.”

“We can only hope that both sides will actually agree to talk to each other.”

“I don’t think that will be an issue.”

\------

Ahsoka entered the Council Chamber, surprised to see only Master Windu and Master Fisto. “You wanted to see me?” At least since they were standing, it should be a quick meeting. “Where’s everyone else?”

“They’re on missions,” Master Windu responded. “We have a very short window of opportunity to win the war.”

She nodded. “I heard that Master Obi-Wan is going after Grievous.”

“And Yoda is going after Dooku,” Master Fisto said.

Ahsoka didn’t know Dooku had been found. Maybe the war really was about to end soon. But why had they called upon her? Was she to be sent on a mission, too?

“We have a task for you,” Master Windu said slowly. “We need you to convince Skywalker to open the holocron.”

“No.” Their surprise was obvious. For a Padawan to outright refuse an order from the Council was not something that happened very often, especially after the start of the war. “What you’re doing to him isn’t right. You’re punishing him excessively for killing a Sith Lord, calling him a Fallen Jedi, and now you _want_ him to use the dark side because it suits your needs?”

“Mind your words, Padawan Tano,” Master Windu warned. “We’ve treated you fairly because we know we shouldn’t judge you based on the actions of your master.”

“If you do this, you will be allowed to take the Trials,” Master Fisto said, trying to placate her.

Ahsoka couldn’t believe they were essentially bribing her. She never thought the Council would stoop so low. But was it really that shocking? “And what will happen if I refuse to cooperate?”

“Nothing will happen . . . right now,” Master Windu said.

_Like that doesn’t sound ominous at all._

Master Fisto stepped forward, giving Master Windu an odd look. “We’re willing to ease some of his restrictions if he has qualms about opening the holocron.”

More bribery.

She’d feel awful about asking Anakin to do that when he’d sworn that he’d never use the dark side again, but if they would ease some of his restrictions, that could work in their favor. Obi-Wan had already hinted to her that he was going to break Anakin out of the Temple.

Eventually, she nodded and said, “I’ll ask him, but I won’t try to convince him.”

Ahsoka had no idea how she was going to tell Anakin without getting him angry. She was angry, too, so she wouldn’t blame him, but she didn’t want to upset him when he had to be pretty miserable already.

She found him eating in the kitchen when she entered his quarters. “Where’d you get that?” she asked, pointing to his bowl. She would have heard if he’d ventured out to the commissary.

“I have non-perishables in my cupboards.” He gestured around him with his spoon. “Obi-Wan put them there months ago because I always forget to stock up. So has something happened? You walked in with purpose.”

She tried not to cringe. “I’ll let you finish eating first.”

Anakin shook his head. “It’s fine. Go ahead.”

Ahsoka looked at him for a moment before she took a deep breath and said, “The Council wants you to open a Sith holocron that I found in Palpatine’s bedroom.”

His response was a quiet sort of anger, not at all what she was expecting. His only outward reaction was that he slowly put his bowl down and glared at it.

“They want me to convince you, but I refused. They even tried to bribe me, saying they’d let me take the Trials. I don’t even know if I _want_ to take the Trials.”

That snapped him out of his anger almost immediately. “Do you feel that you’re not ready?”

“No, it’s not that.” She went over to his couch, moving the various mechanical parts to the side before sitting down. “It’s more that I don’t like what the Order has become. I’m just so confused.”

Anakin joined her on the couch, bowl forgotten. “I understand. I’ve thought about leaving the Order many times.”

That wasn’t a surprise to her. “Why did you decide to stay?”

“Recently, because I have a sense of duty to my men, but my main reason throughout the years was that I didn’t want to prove them all right that I wasn’t going to make it as a Jedi. Plus, I didn’t want to leave Obi-Wan, and I eventually added you to my list of reasons to stay.”

Ahsoka wasn’t sure how she felt about that. She was happy to know that he cared that much about her, but she didn’t like being a reason for staying when he’d be happier if he left. Well, at least she thought he’d be happier. He wouldn’t have to hide his marriage to Padmé, and he wouldn’t have to deal with the judgment of the Council. But something about wanting to prove he could become a Jedi rang false. While she didn’t doubt that played a part in his decision to stay with the Order, she wondered if it was really because he didn’t know where to go. She knew he had no love for his homeworld, and she wasn’t aware of any family, so where _would_ he have gone if he’d left?

“I don’t know what reason I have to stay,” she said despondently. “Barriss wants to affect change from within, but I don’t know if that’s even possible at this point.”

“You should hold off on taking the Trials then. If you’re that conflicted, there’s a good chance you’d fail them.” He put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I believe that you’ll make the right choice, Ahsoka, whatever that may be.”

She smiled weakly. His support was always appreciated, but she still had to figure out what to do.

“I assume you already know about Grievous,” Anakin said.

Ahsoka was all for a subject change. “Yeah, and they apparently found Dooku as well. Master Yoda is going after him.”

“Then the war is almost over.”

“Probably. I have no idea what comes after that.” She winced. “About the holocron . . . They said they were willing to ease some of the restrictions. I’m not trying to convince you! They’re clearly desperate when they’re trying to bribe both of us.”

Anakin sighed. “If they allow Padmé to visit me unsupervised, I’ll open it,” he said quietly.

Her eyes widened. She didn’t think he’d actually agree to it. “If you’re willing to open it, you may as well ask for something else, too. Maybe something that would make it easier to break you out, when the time comes?” Breaking him out was the only option. Obi-Wan probably wasn’t going to ask for her help because he’d think it would be “inappropriate,” but she was going to help no matter what. She would just have to talk to him when he returned.

“Alright. Then I also want to be with Obi-Wan _completely_ unsupervised for five hours a week. That means no guard outside my door or following us around.”

Ahsoka nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, though? I mean, using the dark side again?”

“I’m really not,” he said as his shoulders slumped, “especially since I don’t know what’s in that holocron, but I miss Padmé. And I’m hoping five hours will be enough time to get me out. Obi-Wan hasn’t finalized the plan yet.”

“I’ll let Master Windu know.” Ahsoka hesitated before she reached out and squeezed his arm. “Everything will work out, Anakin. We have to believe that.”

“I’m trying to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course, there’s more shit from the Council. Ahsoka’s going to regret finding that holocron.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a reminder, a week is five days. I actually have a written timeline of everything that happens because there’s no way I can keep track of it all without one. So this chapter starts at five weeks after Padmé woke up in the past and eight days after Palpatine was killed.

Padmé was not thrilled about going back to the Temple, but the summons didn’t say anything about meeting with the Council, so she was cautiously hopeful that maybe she’d be able to see Anakin. It had been over a week since she’d last seen him, and while that was nothing compared to the times he’d been gone on missions, her heart still ached. It was almost worse knowing that he was on Coruscant.

While exiting her office, Padmé ran into one of the inspectors she had given her testimony to.

“Senator Amidala, I’m Inspector Fohaan. If you have a moment, I’d like to ask you a few more questions.”

Although she didn’t want the inspectors examining the situation too closely, given that she and the Council had left out a few important details, she was glad that they were taking it seriously. “I’d be happy to answer them, but I’m afraid I’ve been called to the Jedi Temple.”

Her eyes lit up. “Actually, I’ve been trying to schedule a meeting with Anakin Skywalker, but the High Council keeps giving me excuses.”

It was obvious that Inspector Fohaan didn’t trust the Council’s report, but Padmé couldn’t blame her. Then she got an idea, and she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “Why don’t you come with me? You can ask me your questions on the way.”

“I doubt they’d let me in.”

“I will insist that they do.” Padmé didn’t have any kind of power over the Council, but she could make a nuisance of herself.

Fohaan narrowed her eyes. “Why would you help me question your husband?”

“Because it would annoy them,” she said honestly. It wasn’t like Padmé thought he’d done anything wrong by killing Palpatine, so she didn’t mind him being questioned. It was just the way he’d done it that bothered her, and that had been kept under wraps.

After staring at her for a bit, Fohaan nodded, apparently deciding that Padmé didn’t have any ulterior motives. “Then lead the way, Senator.”

The questions Fohaan had for her were easily answered. When did she start to become suspicious of Palpatine? How long had she been investigating him? Senator Organa mentioned that he was helping her. Did she ask him for assistance, or did he go to her with his own suspicions? At least it wasn’t difficult to skirt the issue of her being from the future. When explaining why she had wanted to investigate Palpatine, Fohaan seemed to think those were valid reasons.

Padmé wasn’t instructed to go to the rooftop landing pad, so they went through the public entrance. Sure enough, Mace Windu was waiting for her, and as she had hoped, he did _not_ look happy upon seeing the inspector.

“I’m Inspector Fohaan, and I wish to speak with Anakin Skywalker,” she said firmly. Before Mace could even open his mouth, she continued, “If you want to be present, I have no issue with that.”

Padmé did her best not to smirk.

“You will be allowed no more than ten minutes,” he relented. Then he turned and began walking away, presumably leading them to Anakin’s quarters.

“Why exactly was I called to the Temple?” Padmé asked, struggling a bit to keep up with him.

“You’re being allowed an unsupervised visit with Skywalker.”

She wondered what the catch was since they wouldn’t do that out of the kindness of their hearts. But she really was going to see Anakin. She didn’t even care if Mace decided that they needed to be supervised after all. Padmé was going to see her husband.

“Is he under some kind of house arrest?” Fohaan asked, looking around as though she couldn’t decide what to focus on. It was probably her first time inside the Temple. “Your report made it sound like you believe that he hadn’t done anything wrong.”

“It’s to keep the Senate happy,” he replied bluntly.

Judging by the look on her face, Fohaan didn’t buy it. Padmé had to agree that to someone who wasn’t in the know, the whole situation seemed a little off.

Finally, they stopped in front of a door with a single guard standing to the side of it. When Mace opened the door, Padmé had to stop herself from pushing past him to rush inside. Anakin was standing in the middle of the room, clearly expecting her. He smiled so wide that his eyes crinkled at the corners, and he ran up to Padmé to give her a hug, lifting her off the ground in his excitement. Because the fear she had of Anakin had long since vanished, she didn’t need to suppress a flinch at the contact.

While they were still wrapped up in each other’s arms, she whispered, “Why are they allowing this?”

“Later,” he whispered back.

They separated at Mace’s cough, and that was when Fohaan stepped forward.

“Anakin, this is Inspector Fohaan,” Padmé said. “She has some questions for you.”

He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t exactly look happy at the prospect of being interrogated. Padmé took his hand and led him to the couch, hoping that she hadn’t made a huge mistake in bringing the inspector there. She had only been thinking about the Council’s reaction, not Anakin’s. Padmé sat next to him and continued to hold his hand in an offer of support.

Taking a small datapad from her belt, Fohaan began with a rather odd question. “What is your definition of a Sith?”

Anakin frowned in confusion. “A Sith is someone who only uses the dark side of the Force and cares about nothing but power and the subjugation of those deemed weaker than them.”

She tapped away on her datapad in much the same way as when Padmé answered her questions. Fohaan was very good at not displaying emotion, but Anakin could probably sense what she was actually feeling and would have an idea of what her questions were leading to. Mace was just giving her the side-eye as if he had instantly regretted allowing her to even look upon Anakin.

“If the Chancellor was so powerful, how did you manage to kill him without much help?”

“Don’t discredit Obi-Wan,” Anakin said with mild annoyance. “He’s very skilled, and we work well together.”

“Only you are accused of murder, though,” Fohaan pointed out.

“Yes, because I’m the one who actually killed him.”

She immediately jumped to the next question without typing into her pad. “What was your relationship with the Chancellor?”

His grip tightened on Padmé’s hand. “Why does that matter?”

“Just answer the question please.”

Anakin took a deep breath, and his grip loosened. “The Chancellor was a friend and mentor,” he said reluctantly.

“So then you must have felt very betrayed.”

“Well, yes, but our fight wasn’t personal. I had to kill him for the good of the galaxy. He was too dangerous to keep alive. Besides, he was _trying to kill me_.” That was the story they were all going with. The Senate didn’t need to know about Palpatine wanting Anakin as his apprentice. “I had to defend myself.”

“And your wife.”

In her testimony, Padmé said that Palpatine was threatening her because she was getting close to the truth.

Anakin’s posture became stiff, but his hand in hers had gone limp. “I did fear for her life,” he admitted slowly.

Fohaan stared at him as if she was trying to decide whether to ask her next question or not. Perhaps she could tell that he was on the verge of dipping into his well of anger. She narrowed her eyes and asked, “What’s the real reason for your containment?”

Clearly, that wasn’t the question Anakin was expecting, but before he could utter a sound, Mace stepped forward. “You already know why.”

Fohaan turned to him. “You’re hiding something. While all the stories do add up, I think a key fact is missing.”

Anakin looked to the floor and slouched as though he were trying to make himself appear smaller. “It’s a Jedi matter,” he said quietly.

Mace pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your time is up, Inspector.”

“It hasn’t been ten minutes.”

“I said _no more than_ ten minutes,” he countered.

Anakin closed his eyes, most likely realizing his mistake. Since Fohaan would never be allowed in the Temple again, she’d probably contact Padmé. There was no way she’d let that slip up go.

“You have one hour,” Mace said to them as he escorted Fohaan out.

Once they were finally alone, Anakin let go of her hand and tugged on his hair in frustration. “I messed up. Now she _knows_ we left something out. Why did I open my big mouth?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll fix it.” She rubbed his back and leaned into him. “Now, tell me why they’re allowing me to see you.”

Anakin sighed and told her about the holocron. Padmé was fuming at their hypocrisy. How could they ask him to do such a thing? She wanted to march up to the Council Chamber to give them hell.

“I’d do anything to see you, Padmé,” he said earnestly.

She shook her head. “Please don’t think like that. You ended up becoming a Sith in the future because you were willing to do anything to save my life.” She held his face in her hands and brought him down for a kiss. “I don’t want you to compromise yourself for my sake. That wouldn’t make me happy.”

“Okay,” he whispered before kissing her again. It was quickly becoming obvious what direction he wanted her visit to go in. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too, Ani.” When he started kissing down her neck, she pulled back, earning a small whine from him. “How are you? Have you been eating?”

Anakin nodded. “I swear I’m fine. Just . . . please.”

Not knowing when she would see him again, Padmé felt the same way. After giving him a deep kiss as an answer, Anakin swept her up into his arms and carried her to his bedroom. It was desperate and quick, but it was something they both needed, and Padmé was more than happy to forget about their current circumstances for a little while.

Lying on the narrow bed together in the afterglow, she smoothed his hair away from his face, noticing just how long it was getting. He’d told her how much he hated the Padawan haircut, mostly because he didn’t have any control over it. She thought that was why he wore dark robes. Even though there wasn’t actually a rule regarding color, most Jedi wore light, earthy hues, so Anakin probably viewed his clothing choice as a small act of rebellion. In fact, as she looked around her, Padmé realized that his entire bedroom was an act of rebellion. Padmé knew Jedi weren’t supposed to have possessions, but he had posters on his walls, what looked like a sculpture of some sort by one of the windows, a model starfighter, a workbench, and various odds and ends scattered about.

“What are you looking at?” he asked with amusement as he caressed her cheek.

“I’ve never been inside your quarters before. Is there a reason why your bedroom shows your personality while your living space doesn’t?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “So I don’t get yelled at. Until very recently, Obi-Wan’s the only one who’s ever been in here, and he’s used to me collecting things.”

Padmé imagined a younger Anakin hiding bits of machinery in his robes to bring back to the Temple and an exasperated Obi-Wan who decided it wasn’t worth it to lecture him about “proper Jedi behavior.” It made her smile.

Wrapping an arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, Anakin gave a contented sigh. “You’re alright, aren’t you?”

She wasn’t sure where that came from. “I’m okay, Ani. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just . . . with everything that’s happened, and there hasn’t really been a break . . . You can be like Obi-Wan sometimes in that you forget to take care of yourself.”

That was true, and even after Palpatine’s death, Padmé hadn’t really been focusing on her own needs. Once Anakin was safe and negotiations with the Separatists were underway, she could start to relax. Padmé was used to dealing with stress on a daily basis, though, so she was fine.

“Don’t worry about me,” she said, giving him a peck on the lips. “I’ve trained for this.”

“You’ve trained to handle waking up in the past after being killed? People on Naboo must really think of every possible scenario.”

She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t miss the casual way he mentioned her death, and it made her curious. “We haven’t really discussed that, you know, what happened to me in the future.”

He instantly tensed up and looked away from her. “What’s there to discuss?”

“I think it would help if you knew some of the context. I don’t want you to be afraid of yourself, Ani.”

Anakin didn’t say anything for a minute or two, but he eventually nodded and snuggled closer into her.

“It started with you and Obi-Wan being called to rescue Palpatine from the Separatists. They attacked Coruscant and captured him, so the Council called you both back from the Outer Rim to not only free him, but to take care of Dooku and Grievous as well. Grievous escaped, but Dooku was killed. Obi-Wan was knocked out, so he wasn’t sure how it happened, but I think Palpatine manipulated you into killing Dooku.”

“Why do you assume the Chancellor had anything to do with it?” Even after knowing the truth about the man, Anakin still had the knee-jerk reaction to defend him. “If I did kill Dooku, it was probably in self-defense.”

Padmé shook her head. “His body was found with both of his hands severed, so I think he was already defeated when you killed him. Plus, Obi-Wan said that you didn’t look well when he asked you about it. After that, I told you I was pregnant, and I told Obi-Wan once he was able to get away from the Council.”

Anakin brought his hand to her stomach. “Was it . . . was it mine?”

“It was.” She covered his hand with her own, brushing her thumb along his knuckles. “It couldn’t have been Obi-Wan’s because of the timing. I never had the chance to properly talk about it with him, so I didn’t actually know what Obi-Wan was going to do until we were on our way to Mustafar. He said that if you died, the baby would still have a father. But I couldn’t even process that at the time after everything that had happened.”

“Obi-Wan must’ve nearly had a heart attack when you told him. Wait, Mustafar?”

“That’s where you— Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. You started having nightmares about me dying in childbirth, but for whatever reason, you didn’t go to Obi-Wan about them.”

She could tell he was frowning, even though she couldn’t see his face. “Probably because of how he reacted to my visions of my mother.”

“But the two of you were much closer than when you were his Padawan. It didn’t make any sense. I hadn’t even realized that he didn’t know until I saw his confusion when I brought it up. And I think it upset him that you only told me, like you didn’t trust him. The only explanation is that Palpatine must have started to turn you against Obi-Wan. Maybe he found out about your relationship with him. It didn’t help that the Council asked you to spy on Palpatine.” Padmé sighed. Even though it didn’t actually matter, she still wished she had more information so that she could pinpoint where it all went wrong. “You didn’t believe Obi-Wan when he told you that he didn’t agree with their decision, that he felt it wasn’t right to make you split your loyalties. In turn, Palpatine had taken control of the Council and forced them to make you a member.”

Anakin backed away, raising his eyebrows in disbelief. “I was a member of the Council?”

“Yes, but they denied you the rank of Master.” She could see his anger begin to surface, so she rested a hand on his thigh. “You have to understand that Palpatine was probably counting on that. He wanted you on the Council not just to keep an eye on them, but to further prove that they don’t trust you. I’m sure of it.”

He calmed down and settled against her side again.

“I don’t know what actually happened to make you fall, but after the Jedi failed to arrest or kill Palpatine . . . That was when the attack on the Temple happened, and I already told you about that.” When he tensed up, Padmé ran her hand up and down his arm in a soothing manner. “You came to see me afterward and said you knew of a way to save me, but you had to go to Mustafar first to end the war. You made me promise to keep Obi-Wan at my apartment if he showed up, and the look in your eyes when you said his name made me shiver. I hadn’t known then what you’d done.”

“Where . . . where _was_ Obi-Wan during all this?” His voice was barely audible.

“On Utapau. The Council sent him there to go after Grievous, but I wonder if Palpatine had planned it that way. Since he was controlling both sides, he could have set it up in the hopes that they would send Obi-Wan. I think you wouldn’t have fallen had he been there. There wasn’t really anything I could have done because we couldn’t even see each other very often by that point.”

She could practically feel his frustration. “But why did I go to Mustafar?”

“That’s where the Separatist Council was. I think you had already killed them by the time we got there. You were . . . I barely recognized you, but how _could_ I still know you after everything you had— I’m sorry. I don’t mean to speak as if _you_ had done those horrible things.” When she turned to lie on her side, he avoided her gaze. “I want you to know that I don’t have any fear of you, that I don’t look at you and think of murdered children.”

“But you told me that you have trouble separating what I did in the future and what I’m capable of doing now,” he said miserably.

Padmé put her hand on his cheek and moved his head so that he would look at her. “To some degree, yes, that’s true. Those memories will always haunt me. But this timeline is _very_ different from the one I lived. I know you won’t fall to the dark side, Anakin, and I won’t judge you for something _you_ didn’t do. I promise.”

He nodded, smiling slightly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too. And I’m sorry.”

He frowned in obvious confusion. “For what?”

“I helped put Palpatine in power all those years ago.” It had been on her mind for weeks. Just as Obi-Wan blamed himself for not noticing what Palpatine was doing to Anakin, she blamed herself for creating the whole mess. “If I hadn’t followed his advice, his manipulation, I wouldn’t have called for a Vote of No Confidence in Chancellor Valorum, and Palpatine wouldn’t have—”

“Hey, hey.” Anakin ran his hand over her hair. “It’s not your fault. Your world was being threatened, and the Senate wasn’t going to do anything about it. Of course you followed his advice. And he would have found some other way to become Chancellor even if you hadn’t called for that vote.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh.

After that, they simply lied there until the hour was almost up. Realistically, Padmé knew that the next time she could be with him would be after he was broken out of the Temple, but she still hoped that she’d get to see him before then.

\------

Obi-Wan felt like he lived in a perpetual state of exhaustion. He nearly fell asleep on the trip to the Temple from the shipyards. But it was all worth it since Grievous was finally dead, and the war was that much closer to ending. His mission only took about three days, and in those three days, Obi-Wan had been trying his best to keep his anxiety at bay. All he could think about was what Padmé had told him of the future, where Obi-Wan was gone for a day, and all hell had broken loose. Realistically, he knew nothing like _that_ could happen since Palpatine was dead and Anakin was terrified of falling to the dark side, but the Council could have done something awful in his absence.

The second he was within range, Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin. _Are you alright, dear one?_

The reply came immediately. _I’m fine. Are you?_

Most of the tension he’d been holding left him in a single exhale. _Yes. Grievous is dead, and_ _I’m on my way to give my report to the Council._

Anakin was silent after that, which made him worry, but he let it go for the moment. He had to focus.

The Council was oddly polite while he gave his report. He was expecting barely concealed hostility. Even Yoda was acting like the last two weeks had never happened, like he still thought Obi-Wan was a great Jedi who always followed the Code and put the Order above all else.

Something was very wrong.

“Stay, you will,” Yoda’s hologram said once Obi-Wan was finished. He gave no further explanation.

When the other members only sat in silence, Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin again. _The Council isn’t allowing me to leave the chamber. Do you know what’s going on?_

Unease traveled across their bond. _I agreed to open the holocron, but only after you returned._

Obi-Wan was very careful to not show a reaction while he stood there, surrounded by powerful Jedi Masters. At least his mental shielding was strong, and he could put it up in a way that didn’t block Anakin out.

_As much as I don’t want you to see me using the dark side again, I have no desire to be alone in a room full of people who judge me. And I’m . . . I’m afraid of what’s in the holocron since it belonged to Palpatine._

He understood Anakin’s fear. He was apprehensive about finding out what was in it as well. _Why did you agree to open it?_ When Anakin told him what he asked for in return, Obi-Wan thought it was a smart move. Five hours should be enough time to get him out of the Temple and off Coruscant, provided they didn’t get caught.

Then Anakin walked in, and one of the guards escorting him was holding a small, metal box covered in wards that obviously held the Sith holocron. The tension in the room drastically went up.

 _I hate how the dark side feels now_ , Anakin sent to him. _I promise this will be the last time._

Knowing how much Anakin needed it, Obi-Wan sent him a wave of unconditional love as a reply, and he could feel Anakin’s nervousness all but disappear.

When the guard opened the box, Anakin lifted the holocron using the Force. Obi-Wan tried not to flinch when he felt Anakin touch the dark side, but he could tell that Anakin was trying to distance himself from it. While Obi-Wan’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest, the holocron slowly opened and revealed the image of a slightly younger Palpatine who looked very pleased with himself. Obi-Wan froze, eyes wide, as he hoped it wasn’t an interactive holocron.

_“I sense a great power within the boy. I think I can use him. With that much inner turmoil, I doubt he will make a great Jedi.”_

Obi-Wan let out a shaky breath, realizing that the holocron had only been used as a record keeper. Still, it didn’t look good that it was starting out with a record on Anakin. Ignoring the image of the late Chancellor, he watched Anakin for any sign that it was becoming too much for him. Anakin had already put up his mental shields, so Obi-Wan had to rely on physical cues.

The image changed.

_“As I predicted, Skywalker will be easy to control. With Maul gone, I am in need of a new apprentice, and I think he will serve this purpose well. Those fools don’t know what to do with the boy, so stuck in their ways as they are. Skywalker already sees himself as an outcast, so I just need to nurture that feeling. And Kenobi will be a useless master. I sensed much grief and anger within him. At least Maul did one thing right in killing Jinn.”_

Obi-Wan ignored the pain from the mention of Qui-Gon’s death. Instead, he focused on Anakin, who stood very still, face expressionless, as he watched the image of the man he had trusted for most of his life talk about him as a tool to be used.

It changed again.

_“The Jedi are doing my job for me since they make it so clear that they don’t trust the boy. He even comes to me rather than go to Kenobi because he thinks his master only sees him as a burden.”_

Obi-Wan winced. It was true that in the very beginning, he had thought of Anakin as a burden, but he had felt so overwhelmed at the time. Once the two of them finally started to bond, though, Obi-Wan quite liked his company. He never realized that Anakin had seen through him, that he felt unwanted.

The image changed yet again, and Obi-Wan wondered just how many records there were.

_“The boy is rather pathetic, talking about how much he misses his mother. I would say Skywalker needs to forget about her, but I think I’ll be able to use this attachment. The more he doesn’t behave like a ‘proper’ Jedi, the easier it will be for me in the end. And his attachment to the Queen might come in handy as well. Odd, considering he barely knew her. I will have to mold the love that burns so brightly within him into a hatred that burns even brighter. If I’m careful, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”_

Another change.

_“Skywalker is so eager to please.”_

His smile made Obi-Wan’s stomach churn.

 _“I could probably ask him to do_ anything _, and if he thought he would be rewarded with praise and affection, he would do it in a heartbeat.”_

Suddenly, Anakin ran for the doors, but he didn’t make it out before he bent forward and violently threw up. Obi-Wan rushed over to his shaking form, and no one in the room made a move to stop him. He could sense guilt from a few who were actually present, which surprised him. They’d been deceived by Palpatine just as much as he had been, but he never expected a single member to feel any sort of responsibility for what happened.

“Close it! Please!” Anakin begged.

“Only you can do that,” Eeth said.

Obi-Wan turned to them, keeping a hand on Anakin’s back. “Then I will destroy it.”

“No,” said Yoda’s hologram. “Forbid it, I do.”

Anakin was trying so hard not to cry, and every shudder that went through his body made Obi-Wan’s heart clench. Obi-Wan could no longer stand hearing Palpatine’s voice. “Then we’re going to wait outside while you finish watching,” he said, not bothering to hide his disgust.

He managed to pull Anakin up off the floor and half carried him out of the chamber. They sat on one of the benches in the anteroom before Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around Anakin, but it was difficult to focus on calming him down when his own emotions had been thrown into chaos. Obi-Wan felt like such a failure. He should have noticed what Palpatine was doing. _Why_ hadn’t he noticed? Why hadn’t he made an effort to let Anakin know he could go to him with his problems?

As he continued to berate himself, Anakin gradually stopped shaking and gave a weak tug on their bond. Obi-Wan finally returned to the present just as the doors to the chamber opened.

Mace stepped out, his gaze on the floor. “It closed itself after cycling through all of the records. It seemed he used the holocron as a sort of journal on his progress with Sky— with Anakin,” he stated quietly. Then he finally looked Obi-Wan in the eye. “We will have it destroyed.”

Obi-Wan distantly realized that was the first time in at least ten years that Mace called Anakin by his given name, but he didn’t feel like analyzing that. Instead, he got to his feet and said, “I’m taking him to his quarters, and if one of you wants to supervise us, then go right ahead. If not, quite frankly, I don’t care. I’m not going to leave Anakin alone right now.”

Because Mace seemed to be full of surprises, he only nodded and walked back into the chamber.

Anakin was completely silent the entire way to his quarters, but he had grabbed onto Obi-Wan’s hand. At least they didn’t run into anyone since the Temple was rather empty. Obi-Wan wasn’t even sure if he cared if someone saw them walking hand-in-hand. It wasn’t like it would make their situation any worse.

Once they were inside, Obi-Wan broke. “I’m so sorry, Anakin. It’s all my fault. I failed you in the worst way. I—”

Anakin hugged him and sent waves of love and forgiveness across their bond. “It’s alright. All that matters is that I didn’t become a Sith. You and Padmé saved me.” Anakin pulled away and looked at the floor. “It’s just hard for me to comprehend how someone I trusted for so long was only using me.”

“Do you trust _me_?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Of course I do. I’m much closer with you than I ever was with Palpatine. I didn’t tell him everything, and thank the Force that I didn’t.” Anakin pushed him in the direction of the couch before he went into the kitchen. “He somehow knew about my marriage to Padmé, but he didn’t know about us. If he did, I’m sure he would have tried to tear us apart.” Then he reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a kettle.

Obi-Wan realized that Anakin was making tea. He’d forgotten that he’d left some tea bags there for the few times they stayed in Anakin’s quarters rather than go to Obi-Wan’s. Anakin never drank it himself, so he had to be making it because he knew it calmed Obi-Wan’s nerves.

“Well, in a way, he did try,” Anakin continued. “That rumor about you and Padmé? He was the one who told me about it. I’m not even sure if it was an actual rumor.”

Coming from Palpatine, Obi-Wan doubted it, but the thought that he was having Padmé’s apartment watched made the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He hoped it was a recent development and not that Palpatine had been watching her for years. Palpatine had been counting on Anakin flying into a jealous rage by saying that his wife was cheating on him, and it would have destroyed his friendship with Obi-Wan as well. Smirking a bit, Obi-Wan wished he could have seen the look on Palpatine’s face when his plan backfired.

When he noticed Anakin’s stiff posture, he remembered what had been dredged up and tried not to cringe. “I don’t think of you as a burden.”

Anakin glanced over his shoulder before turning back to the kettle. “But you did in the beginning, right? You even told Qui-Gon that you thought I was dangerous.”

Obi-Wan had forgotten about that. What a callous thing to say when the child had been standing right there. Obi-Wan didn’t want to answer him, but he knew he had to. “Yes, in the very beginning, I did. I apologize for hurting you in such a way. You must understand that I was struggling with my jealousy and grief, and I had no idea what I was doing. I was knighted too young and took on a Padawan before I was ready to.”

“I was knighted even younger,” Anakin pointed out. “And I also took on a Padawan when I was younger than you.”

“But you had someone to go to for guidance. I had no one, which was why I made so many mistakes in those first few years.”

Anakin finally walked over to the couch and handed Obi-Wan a cup of tea before sitting down next to him. “What about Yoda?”

“He wasn’t very helpful.”

The corner of Anakin’s mouth twitched upward. Obi-Wan knew what Anakin thought of Yoda. “Why were you jealous?” Anakin asked as he turned to face him.

Blowing on the surface of his tea, Obi-Wan took a sip and was surprised to find that the strength was to his liking. “I never told you about that, did I? Initially, Qui-Gon hadn’t wanted me as his Padawan.”

“What?” His indignation almost made Obi-Wan smile. “Why? Because you were such a stickler for the Code?”

“No. I actually wasn’t very good at following the Code when I was that age, but then again, he never truly followed the Code himself. He had his reasons for not wanting me, so it took months to convince him. I worked very hard to be chosen by him, and then he just . . . ” Obi-Wan took another sip of tea rather than finish that sentence.

Miraculously, Anakin seemed to understand. “And then he just chose to train me after knowing me for only a day. You were jealous of _me_?”

Obi-Wan nodded. “I felt . . . like I was being pushed aside. Qui-Gon tried to reassure me, said that he felt I was ready for the Trials. Even though it was nice to hear that from him, I still thought I was being replaced.” Obi-Wan stared at the cup in his hands. He hadn’t spoken about his old master in so long, but he thought it would be good for Anakin to hear it. “While Qui-Gon could be rather infuriating at times, he was a great master, and I cared about him very much. I sometimes think that he would have been a better master for you than I was.”

Anakin reached out, but he drew back as if he wasn’t sure Obi-Wan wanted to be touched. “I don’t think that at all. I was lucky to have you.”

Smiling, Obi-Wan patted Anakin on the thigh before drinking the rest of his tea. It was then that he finally noticed the lack of droid parts scattered around the living area. Anakin must have straightened up for Padmé’s visit. Obi-Wan found that he actually missed the clutter.

“I accidentally revealed that we’re hiding something to one of the inspectors,” Anakin admitted once Obi-Wan put his cup down on the side table. “She thinks my confinement is suspicious.”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about that too much. With Yoda taking care of Dooku, the fighting will likely be over in a matter of days, and with the information from the datachip, you should be cleared of any wrongdoing.” He let his confidence flow through their bond. “I have a plan to get you out, but I’m going to need help from a certain senator and Padawan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I’m not the nicest to Anakin and Obi-Wan, but there will be some good to come of the holocron...maybe.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe I’ve manage to stick to my plan of updating once a week for over two months. It helps that I’m consistently about 20,000 words ahead of updates. Thank you so much to everyone who’s commented, given kudos, bookmarked, or subscribed! You guys help keep me motivated.

When Padmé went onto the HoloNet, she was slammed with headline after headline of Grievous’ demise. She was trying to find any information on Obi-Wan’s return when her comlink went off.

“Yes?”

_“Hello, Padmé.”_

“Obi-Wan!” There was something in his voice that made her worry. “Is everything alright?”

_“Anakin opened the holocron.”_

She suddenly felt cold. “I see. What was inside?”

_“A journal of Palpatine’s progress with Anakin.”_

Padmé stopped breathing. She couldn’t imagine what Anakin must have felt when faced with actual evidence. It was must have been hard on Obi-Wan as well since she knew he still blamed himself, and no matter what Anakin told him, he probably always would. She was only glad she wasn’t there to see it herself.

“Are you both okay?”

He hesitated before answering. _“Mostly. The holocron has been destroyed.”_

She could tell Obi-Wan didn’t want to talk about it anymore, so she said, “Some Separatist leaders have already begun reaching out to us, and it’s been decided that we will share all of our information on Palpatine with the Confederacy. It seems that the majority of the Senate is willing to have negotiations.” Padmé sighed and looked out her office window. The scheduled rain was about to begin. “I still don’t know if the Separatists will rejoin the Republic.”

_“Politics is your arena, and I don’t know enough to say if the Republic being whole again could realistically work.”_

She hoped it would, but her optimism felt childish. “It will take a long time to undo the damage done by Palpatine, especially since we don’t even understand the full extent of it.”

Then Threepio walked in. “Oh! I’m sorry to interrupt, Mistress Padmé, but Inspector Fohaan wishes to speak with you.”

_“I’ll let you go, but I need to meet with you and Ahsoka sometime tomorrow. Will you be home or at your office?”_

Padmé figured it had to do with his escape plan. The sooner Anakin got out of there, the better. “I can work from home tomorrow. Come whenever you can.”

_“Alright. Be safe.”_

“You, too.”

A few minutes later, Fohaan entered her office, and Padmé gestured to the sitting area. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, Inspector.”

“What are the Jedi hiding?” she asked the second she sat down.

Padmé blinked at her. _So this is how it’s going to be then._ Placing her hands in her lap, she smiled what Obi-Wan called her “politician’s smile,” and instead of answering the question, she asked one of her own. “Is the investigation almost complete?”

She frowned at Padmé and took a moment before replying. “A decent portion of the information on the datachip has been proven to be true, but there are a few details that don’t have any known connections to other pieces of information, so they’re basically useless.”

“Then what will happen to Anakin?”

“The murder charge will be dropped, not that we would have been able to put him on trial.”

“Yes, I’m aware that he would first have to be expelled from the Order, and I know that both the Senate and the Security Force have been pushing for that.” Every session held by the Senate had someone shouting about Anakin being tried as a citizen of the Republic. She couldn’t stop herself from glaring the last time it happened.

Fohaan nodded. “And we consider the lightsaber holder combined with the fact that Palpatine was a traitor to the Republic as enough to say that it was quite likely he was a Sith Lord. I doubt there will be much objection to our decision.” Fohaan leaned forward. “Now answer my question please.”

Padmé licked her lips and hoped she wasn’t about to make a mess of things. “The Jedi are afraid of Anakin’s power. They want to keep him locked up because they think he’s dangerous.”

“Is he?”

“No. There is conformity in the Jedi Order, and anyone who breaks that conformity is looked upon with suspicion. If they don’t ‘release their emotions into the Force’—or as I like to say, repress everything they feel—there’s a large risk of being controlled by those emotions. Basically, the Jedi think that things like  love, fear, and anger can easily lead one down the path to evil.”

Anakin had told her how he felt like an outcast as a child in the Temple. He was always going to be different, and many of his peers viewed that as something worthy of scorn. The adults, Obi-Wan included, had either ignored the problem or felt it was justified. She had almost confronted Obi-Wan about it after Anakin had told her, but she realized it wasn’t her place to say anything. The two of them needed to work through their past on their own.

Fohaan jolted backwards a little. “Why would anyone want to be a part of that?”

“Most of them aren’t really given a choice since they’re taken into the Order soon after birth or when they’re too young to understand what’s going on. I’ve learned a lot from Anakin and Obi-Wan, and from an outside perspective, it does seem quite . . . odd.”

Fohaan looked away for a moment, clearly gathering her thoughts. It was strange how upset that revelation made her. “What will the Council do with him after the investigation clears his name?” she asked slowly.

Padmé didn’t answer.

Her demeanor softened a little, and she stood, bowing slightly. “Thank you for your time, Senator.”

Before Fohaan could walk out, Padmé asked, “When will you make the announcement?”

“Probably within a week.”

Then they didn’t have much time. “And you aren’t concerned about the reaction from Palpatine’s supporters?” Padmé wondered if they even had any influence on the investigation, considering the conclusion that had been reached.

Fohaan shook her head. “A few have been detained for attempted bribery. They wanted to keep Palpatine’s name from getting sullied. But you don’t have anything to worry about, Senator.”

\------

Ahsoka found Master Plo outside. She heard he had returned from his mission, and she really wanted to talk with him.

“Hello, Little Soka,” he greeted, holding out a hand to the spot next to him.

Smiling, she sat down. “Hi, Master Plo. How was the mission?”

“It went well. I sense that the war will be ending very soon.” Looking upwards, he asked, “How have you been? I can’t imagine this has been easy on you, your master becoming a Fallen Jedi.”

Ahsoka clenched her fists in her lap before she released her irritation into the Force. “He hasn’t fallen. Master Yoda is just changing what that means because he clearly has an agenda. Anakin is still Anakin, and I will stand by him.”

“I respect that,” he said, and she noticed that he didn’t comment on her accusation against Yoda. “I wish to tell you something, but you must be _very_ careful that no one else hears you repeat it. And I am telling you rather than Obi-Wan since the other Council members might figure out what I’m doing if they know I’ve spoken with him.”

Then Master Plo told her about the holocron she had brought to them and Anakin’s reaction to it. While he didn’t give her any details about what Palpatine had recorded, she still felt slightly nauseous. Ahsoka wished she’d never found it. He went on to tell her that upon seeing how much Anakin was being manipulated, some Council members wanted to pardon his use of the dark side and try to rehabilitate him. Ahsoka had no idea what they meant by “rehabilitate,” but she didn’t like the sound of it. Other members, especially Yoda, saw the holocron as proof that Anakin was too far gone. Palpatine had been grooming him to become a Sith apprentice for _over a decade_ , and they felt there was no coming back from that.

“Perhaps,” Master Plo said cautiously, “Anakin would do better outside of the Temple.”

Ahsoka’s eyes widened. For him to be suggesting that, it had to be bad. She let it all soak in and took a deep breath to calm herself. “I don’t know if I want to stay in the Order,” she admitted quietly. “I feel like the other Jedi will always be waiting for me to ‘fall’ like my master did, and I don’t like the direction the Council has been going in, no offense.”

“I understand. Of course, I would like for you to stay, but you should do what you think is best for yourself.”

Even though she had known he wouldn’t be angry with her, she was still relieved. “Thank you, Master Plo. And thank you for telling me about the holocron.” She stood and suddenly felt exhausted. “I’ll let you know what I decide.”

He nodded.

Then she headed out to Padmé’s apartment. Ahsoka enjoyed her time outside of the Temple a lot more than she used to. Even with the halls being much emptier than before, she just couldn’t stand the mood of the place. Obi-Wan would be arriving at her apartment a few hours later so that no one would think they were planning something. She’d been surprised when he approached her since she thought she’d have to convince him to let her help.

Padmé had told her to go through the front entrance, and she was greeted by Dormé when she exited the turbolift. Ahsoka wondered how much Padmé’s handmaiden knew about what was going on. When she saw Padmé, she had to wince at how tired she looked, but she supposed that being in her own home, Padmé didn’t feel the need to keep up any kind of pretense. Judging by the concern in Padmé’s eyes, Ahsoka figured she looked as ragged as she felt. Really, all of them were having a rough month.

“How are you?” Padmé asked as she drew her into a quick hug.

Ahsoka could only sigh in response.

“Maybe you should take a nap, unless Jedi don’t nap,” Padmé said with a smile.

She huffed out a laugh. “Maybe I should.”

“Why don’t you get some rest in the guestroom?” Padmé took her by the shoulders and led her down a corridor.

Ahsoka didn’t argue. The bed was much more comfortable than what she was used to, almost too comfortable, but the atmosphere was pleasant. While she could sense Padmé’s worry, she was only one person, so it was easy to tune her out. It was probably the fastest she’d fallen asleep in months.

Sometime later, Ahsoka heard her name being called softly, and she gradually woke up to find Padmé standing over her. She briefly wondered if Padmé had learned from Anakin not to shake someone awake. Stretching, she said, “I guess Obi-Wan’s here then.”

“He is. Feel better?”

“Yeah.” Ahsoka smiled a bit sheepishly. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Now let’s go see what he’s come up with.”

Padmé and Ahsoka joined him at the dining room table, and Ahsoka did her best to hide her shock. The bags under Obi-Wan’s eyes were more prominent, his face was a bit pale, and he wasn’t even bothering to sit up straight. What a difference a few days made.

“I no longer want to wait for the investigation to conclude,” he said, getting right to the point. “It will be in our favor anyway, which means the Senate won’t be after you, Padmé, if it gets out that Anakin is no longer on Coruscant.”

“What about the war?” she asked.

“Since Yoda is taking care of Dooku, and there haven’t been any major battles, I doubt the Council will have need of me again.”

“I agree that we should move quickly,” Ahsoka said. “I spoke with Master Plo this morning, and he told me some of the Council members feel that the holocron proves Anakin won’t be anything other than what Palpatine wanted him to be. Yoda really has it out for him now.”

Obi-Wan’s expression turned grim. “I want to do it tomorrow night.”

Then he laid out the plan. It was risky, but it was the best they could do. Ahsoka was glad that Anakin asked for those five hours. It should be more than enough time to get him off Coruscant, even if they did get held up somewhere along the way. Truthfully, she was surprised the Council had accepted that demand. She guessed they weren’t thinking Obi-Wan would try to break him out.

“The Council will most likely keep our disappearances under wraps,” Obi-Wan continued. “They won’t want it to get out to the public, and especially the Senate, because it’d be quite the headache for them when Anakin is still technically a suspect. Since he has been staying in his quarters, no one will even notice he’s gone, and they can just say that I’m out on a mission.”

“Where will you take him?” Ahsoka asked.

He ran a hand through his hair. “I still haven’t figured that part out.”

“I know a great place,” Padmé said, grinning. “Go to Tatooine and stay with Shmi.”

The name didn’t sound familiar to Ahsoka. “Who’s that?”

“Anakin’s mother.”

Anakin never talked about his mother, so she didn’t know if he had a good relationship with her, or that she was even still alive. From the way Padmé was smiling, though, Ahsoka figured that Anakin would be more than happy to see her.

At Obi-Wan’s silence, Padmé asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. It’s just that I . . . have never met Anakin’s mother.” When both Padmé and Ahsoka smirked, he pointed at them and said, “Not a word.”

“Don’t worry.” Padmé reached across the table and patted his hand. “She’ll love you.”

Obi-Wan almost looked like he was in pain, but he quickly shoved his embarrassment aside and got back to business. “I agree that it’s a good destination since no one would think to look for him there. They’d probably go to Naboo first. But we can’t just show up unannounced.”

“Of course you can. She’s his mother, and she hasn’t seen him in years. It would make Anakin happy, too. Now, about what you need, I should be able to get them for you without a problem. But what if you get caught in the Temple?”

“We’ll fight our way out if we have to,” Obi-Wan said, determination burning in his eyes. “No matter what happens, I am getting Anakin off of this planet.”

\------

While walking out of the commissary for what would be the last time, Obi-Wan ran into Plo Koon. But Obi-Wan had never seen Plo go into the commissary. He had no idea how Plo even ate since his mask couldn’t be removed without him dying. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but wonder if Plo had actually been looking for him.

“Ah, hello, Obi-Wan. Have you heard the news?” he asked louder than was necessary. Perhaps he wanted to make it known to any who were listening that he wasn’t in cahoots with Obi-Wan, but was simply passing along information that was considered public knowledge.

“I can’t say that I have.”

“Dooku is dead, and Master Yoda should be back at the Temple in a few days.”

Obi-Wan was glad that they were escaping that night. They would have a better chance without Yoda around. “That is very good news indeed.” Remembering that he had wanted to speak with Plo, he said in a quieter tone, “Listen, about Ahsoka—”

“She will be fine. Have faith in her.” Putting a hand on his shoulder, Plo said, “May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan.” Then he walked down the corridor instead of into the commissary.

That startled him. It sounded like a goodbye. He didn’t think Ahsoka would have told him their plan, but even if she had, Obi-Wan trusted him, so he let it go.

\------

Ahsoka knocked on Master Plo’s door, sensing that he was inside. She’d never been to his quarters before, but this was her only chance to see her old mentor. After the prep for their escape had taken longer than expected, she didn’t have much time left in the day to say all her goodbyes. Once he opened the door, he swept his arm back as an invitation to come inside. The layout of his quarters was the same as Obi-Wan’s and Anakin’s, but there were small, colorful plants around his living space.

“I’ve made my decision,” she announced. “I’m going to leave the Order.”

Master Plo didn’t seem surprised. Instead, he gave her a hug. “I am proud of all that you have accomplished, Ahsoka, and I do not think any less of you for leaving.”

Her eyes got a little watery, but she had told herself that she wasn’t going to cry. “Thank you, for everything. We’ll see each other again. I know it.”

“I believe that as well.” He let her go. “I am glad that you will be in good hands once you leave the Temple. They care about you very much.”

Ahsoka took a step back in shock. She had no idea how Master Plo knew they were going to break Anakin out, but at least she didn’t have to worry about him saying anything to the other Council members. “I care about them, too. Everything will work out somehow.”

“Yes, it will.”

Soon after, Ahsoka left the Temple to go see Padmé. Since Padmé was staying on Coruscant until the negotiations were settled, assuming negotiations were even going to take place, it would be quite some time before Ahsoka would see her again. Padmé had said that she also wanted to stay behind so that she could warn Obi-Wan and Anakin if the Council’s reaction was worse than they’d expected.

“Hello, Ahsoka,” Padmé said as she stood up from her desk.

“Hey. I just wanted to say goodbye, for now, I mean.” They sat together on the couch, and Ahsoka was already feeling a little sad about never being able to visit Padmé in her office again. “I’m going with them.”

Padmé’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re leaving the Order?”

“Yeah, but I haven’t told Anakin or Obi-Wan yet.” She sighed and tried not to fidget. “I’ve thought about it for a while now, and I just can’t stay. The Order has become something I no longer want any part of.”

She pulled Ahsoka into a sideways embrace. “I’m so proud of you for having the courage to make such a life-altering decision. We’ll definitely see each other again, and I won’t be changing my frequency, so if you ever need to talk, I’ll be here for you.”

Ahsoka smiled, grateful to have so many people who cared about her. “Thank you, Padmé.”

Her next stop was the army barracks, and Ahsoka was lucky that the 501st was still on Coruscant. She’d heard that they were to be deployed only if the fighting increased again. Finding Rex wasn’t difficult, but trying to figure out how to say goodbye without alerting the others was.

“Commander,” Rex said, saluting. “What brings you here? Has something happened?”

Quite a few heads turned their way, and Ahsoka wondered what they’d been told about Anakin. “Sort of. Can I speak with you in private, Captain?”

He nodded, keeping his expression neutral, but she felt his apprehension in the Force. Rex led her to a tiny meeting room that wasn’t being used, and as soon as the door closed behind them, his concern showed on his face. “Is this about General Skywalker? They refuse to tell us anything besides the fact that he killed the Chancellor, who turned out to be a traitor.”

Ahsoka suddenly felt guilty for not coming to see him sooner. They all deserved to know what was going on. “I’m sorry, Rex. I don’t have any excuse for not keeping you in the loop.” She took a step closer. “Is this room secure?” At his nod, she said, “The High Council is planning on keeping Anakin locked up for good, so Obi-Wan and I are breaking him out of the Temple tonight. And we’re all resigning from the Order. Please keep this to yourself until tomorrow morning.”

Whatever he’d been expecting, it certainly wasn’t that. His mouth actually fell open in surprise. “Commander, I—” She’d never seen him at a loss for words before. “I don’t understand. Why would the Council do that? He _saved_ the Republic.”

“But he used the dark side to do it. They’re afraid of him, Rex. And it doesn’t help that he’s married to Padmé and is in a relationship with Obi-Wan, so he’s been breaking the rules for a while now.” Ahsoka couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the look on his face. “Sorry, this really isn’t funny.”

“Cody owes me 20 ration bars,” Rex said to himself, running a hand over his head.

“I can’t believe you two!” She gave him a slight shove. “Why wasn’t I in on that?”

“Well, we didn’t think it would be appropriate,” he said with a small smile. “But you’re really leaving?”

She nodded. “I came to say goodbye. The war should be over soon, so you’ll actually get to have a life.”

Rex looked to the floor. “We were made to fight, Commander. The army _is_ my life.”

Deciding to go for a proper goodbye, she wrapped her arms around him in tight hug. “Don’t say that, Rex. You’re a person, not a clanker. You’ll figure out what you want to do eventually.” Sensing that he was too stunned to hug her back, she let go of him. “And you can call me Ahsoka.”

“You’ll always be our Commander.”

Smiling, she rolled her eyes and gave his arm a light punch. “Tell everyone that I wish them the best. I’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you, too . . . Ahsoka.”

She ignored the sudden wetness in her eyes after she walked out. It was finally beginning to hit her that she was really leaving.

A little later in the day, soon before sunset, Ahsoka looked around her room and realized that she didn’t care about never seeing it again. She barely spent any time there anyway, what with all the missions she went on. It was only recently that she’d slept in her own bed for more than a few days in a row. In true Jedi fashion, she had no possessions. All she needed were her lightsabers and her comlink.

But before she could go, she had one last person she needed to talk to.

_“Yes?”_

“Hey, Barriss. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.”

 _“No, but hold on one moment.”_ There was some rustling and a small grunt. _“I figured you wouldn’t want to be overheard by my master.”_

“Ah, no, especially since I wanted to tell you that I’ve decided to leave the Order.” There was silence on the other end. “Of course, if you need anything, you have my frequency,” Ahsoka said quickly, hoping Barriss wasn’t upset with her. After Barriss had struggled with leaving, Ahsoka wasn’t sure how she’d take the news.

 _“I appreciate you telling me, and I understand. Your situation hasn’t gotten any better. Likewise, if you need anything, you can contact me.”_ She paused, and Ahsoka wished she could see her face to get some idea about what she was thinking. _“May the Force be with you, Ahsoka.”_

“And with you,” she said, relieved.

Ending the call, Ahsoka looked at the time and left her room to get into position.

\------

Obi-Wan dismissed the guard outside Anakin’s quarters, claiming to be using the five hours he was granted for the week. When he walked inside, Anakin greeted him with a kiss, joy and relief emanating from him. He’d told Anakin through their bond the night before when he was planning on breaking him out. With his nerves starting to get the better of him, Obi-Wan deepened the kiss for a moment before pulling away. He’d been on plenty of dangerous missions before, but if something went wrong that night . . . Obi-Wan was trying not to think about the consequences.

“Everything is ready,” Obi-Wan said as he took out his comlink.

“Won’t the Council suspect Ahsoka after they realize we’re gone?”

“She’ll be fine, Anakin.” Setting his comlink to silent—the beeping it made was a bit too loud for such a delicate operation—he waited for Ahsoka contact him. “Try your best to stay calm.” He saw Anakin nod out of the corner of his eye when the light on his comlink started flashing. “Are we all clear?” he spoke into the device.

_“Yeah.”_

Obi-Wan gestured for Anakin to follow him, and they left his quarters in silence. Ahsoka was to stay ahead of them to make sure they wouldn’t run into anyone. While Obi-Wan kept an eye on his comlink, they walked casually just in case they were spotted. Then it started flashing.

_“Two younglings are headed for you on your left.”_

Younglings would be easy. Obi-Wan pushed Anakin into a nearby recess, and they stood on either side of the statue. Using the Force, he compelled them to keep looking forward as they walked by. After a minute passed, Obi-Wan poked his head out and saw that they had rounded the corner.

 _Did you just mind-trick younglings?_ Anakin asked as they continued walking down the corridor.

_Not exactly._

His comlink lit up again.

_“Make the next right. Too many Padawans to avoid.”_

They followed her advice, and now that they were off the planned route, they would have to rely on Ahsoka to guide them to the passageway. Anakin started to tense up beside him the longer they walked. _We’re almost there_ , Obi-Wan sent to him.

Anakin relaxed only slightly and nodded.

When they finally reached the passageway, Obi-Wan got down on his knees just as Ahsoka moved the stone out of the wall from the other side. He let Anakin crawl in first, and he went in behind him, using the Force to put the stone back into place. The passageway was much smaller than he remembered, but he _was_ a child the last time he’d been there.

Ahsoka ignited the small lamp she’d stored in there earlier. “So far so good. C’mon.”

They followed her a little ways before they reached a pack that contained their cloaks and a few other essentials. Their robes would mark them as Jedi, even in the undercity, which was where they were headed to next. The cloaks were black and looked well-worn, nothing that would make them stand out. He wasn’t sure why Padmé had such drab things in her possession. But in going through the pack to make sure everything was there, Obi-Wan noticed there were three cloaks instead of two, and he looked at Ahsoka sharply.

“I’m coming with you,” she said defiantly.

Anakin nearly panicked. “What? You can’t!”

“I’ve already made my decision, Master, and we don’t have time to argue about it.”

Obi-Wan gave Anakin a gentle push. “She’s right. We have to get moving.”

It wasn’t much longer before they reached the end of the passageway. Jumping down, Obi-Wan uncovered the speeder that Padmé had purchased under a fake name. They weren’t using one of her private speeders since their escape couldn’t be linked back to her. And in the backseat was Artoo.

Anakin was thrilled to see his old droid. “Artoo! It’s been so long! I hope you weren’t treated poorly.” The droid gave a series of beeps while they put on the black cloaks and got in. “I’m sorry, buddy. I’ll be sure to give you a thorough maintenance check as soon as I’m able.” He turned to Obi-Wan as they lifted off. “How’d you even get him here?”

“Ask Ahsoka.”

“It wasn’t easy, I’ll tell you that. I had to make up some ridiculous story as to why I needed _him_ specifically.” She patted Artoo’s dome. “No way were we leaving Artoo behind. I had to argue with Master Obi-Wan to bring him.”

The droid sounded angry, even though Obi-Wan refused to believe that droids could have emotions, no matter what Anakin said.

“It was an unnecessary risk,” Obi-Wan reasoned, which earned him a glare from Anakin.

They were quiet for the rest of the way to Coruscant’s undercity, but once they began to descend, Anakin barraged him with questions. “Anakin, not now,” Obi-Wan snapped. “Wait until we leave Coruscant’s atmosphere.” There were too many ways everything could go wrong, and he was trying to focus on what he was doing. He didn’t have the energy to deal with Anakin on top of all that.

Anakin pulled his hood down lower over his face and shut Obi-Wan out, which was fine. It wasn’t like they _needed_ to communicate through their bond.

After he landed the speeder, it was only a short walk to where their ship, another last minute purchase from Padmé, was docked and waiting for them. Obi-Wan had no idea how she managed to get it down there, but she had been known to work miracles. Although the ship was a piece of junk, in Obi-Wan’s opinion, he knew Padmé would be sure to get something that would safely transport them to Tatooine.

They boarded quickly, and Anakin automatically took the pilot’s chair.

“You don’t even know where we’re going, and you are practically incapable of flying without drawing attention to yourself. Get up.”

Scowling, Anakin relinquished the chair. Even Ahsoka was annoyed, but in that moment, he didn’t care what they thought of his attitude. Obi-Wan just needed to get them off Coruscant.

They rose back out of the undercity and into air traffic seamlessly. In another fifteen minutes, they would be able to make the jump to hyperspace. As they rose higher and higher, the tension in the cockpit slowly bled away. Obi-Wan didn’t feel any warnings in the Force, and the ship’s censors didn’t indicate that they were being followed, so it seemed like they would actually make it.

Once they finally left Coruscant’s atmosphere, Obi-Wan sagged into the chair and took a deep, calming breath. “You can contact Padmé,” he said to Anakin.

Without a word, Anakin keyed her frequency into the ship’s holo communicator, and after a few seconds, her image appeared in front of them.

_“You’re all okay? No mishaps?”_

Anakin smiled. “Yeah, everything went fine. I love you so much.”

She smiled back at him, utterly relieved. _“I love you, too, Ani. Please be careful, all of you. And tell Shmi I said ‘hi.’”_

The look of bewildered shock on Anakin’s face made Obi-Wan chuckle. Leaning forward, he said gently, “Be safe, Padmé.”

She nodded. Then she looked at each of them with a mixture of sadness and hope. _“May the Force be with you.”_ And the connection was cut.

It was time to go.

Obi-Wan punched in the coordinates, and they made the jump to hyperspace. The Corellian Run was a long hyperspace route, so they would have nothing to do for quite some time.

He stared at the swirling colors in front of him, his body feeling light after his muscles had been tense for so long. He’d just left everything he’d ever known behind, but it wasn’t as though he would have been allowed to stay even if he wanted to. His life as a Jedi was over. It was strange that the thought didn’t send him into a panic. Maybe it was because he had told himself years ago that he would sacrifice his purpose in life if it meant Anakin could be truly happy. That was when Anakin had still been a Padawan, though, so of course Obi-Wan wouldn’t have let him fend for himself if he’d decided to leave the Order while still being under his care. The current situation was vastly different, and he was without a plan. Obi-Wan had been raised to be Jedi, so he didn’t know how to be anything else. He knew he didn’t have to figure it out right away since they were going to be on the run for a while, but what about after that?

He had to stop thinking about it, or he _would_ start panicking.

“Are we . . . are we going to Tatooine?” Anakin asked, his anger at Obi-Wan seemingly forgotten.

Obi-Wan turned to him. “Padmé suggested that we stay with your mother until we figure out what to do next.”

Ecstatic, Anakin immediately jumped out of the copilot’s chair and gave him a big kiss. Having never done that sort of thing in front of Ahsoka before, Obi-Wan pushed him away, eyes wide and face hot. Anakin practically smirked at him in response, and he could hear Ahsoka laughing in the background.

Then Anakin took his hand and kissed the back of it. “Thank you,” he said quietly. And with his mental shields down, he sent, _For the first time in my life, I’m_ free _._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They’ve finally escaped! Now we’re moving on to the next phase of the plot.


	11. Chapter 11

“May the Force be with you.”

Padmé cut the connection and fell backwards onto her bed, closing her eyes in relief. The fear, the restless nights, her death, it was all worth it. For six weeks, Padmé had been working to change the future, and now she could say for certain that _none_ of it was going to come true. Palpatine’s Empire would never exist, the Jedi weren’t going to be slaughtered, and Anakin wasn’t going to turn to the dark side.

She knew it could have gone a lot smoother if she’d just told Anakin the truth from the very beginning. He still would have been upset, but he wouldn’t have ran straight to Palpatine. Knowing how close Anakin was to him, she really should have seen that coming. The duel with Palpatine could have gone the same way, but if she hadn’t been there, Palpatine might have been able to sway Anakin to his side. And the only reason she was there was because Anakin had confronted him. So at least it all worked out in the end.

In that moment, she was finally able to admit to herself what the real reason was for hiding the truth. Padmé had been in such an emotionally turbulent place when she woke up in the past. The future she’d come from had been full of death, fear, and hopelessness, all of which left a heavy mark on her. While she was trying to protect Anakin, her fear of him had clouded her judgment. Padmé knew that both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan didn’t like the idea of keeping Anakin out of the loop, and she should have realized that she was in the wrong, but Anakin had already forgiven her, so she was confident that they would be able to move passed it.

Padmé wondered how long it would take the Council to find out that Anakin and the others were gone. Obviously, they would contact her as soon as they did, but she refused to go back to the Temple. With Anakin gone, they truly had no power over her.

All that was left was ending the war, but she wouldn’t have anything to distract her after that. Well, she still had a few months before her term was up, so she would have something to focus on for a little while longer. Padmé was such a hypocrite, telling Anakin and Obi-Wan to take care of themselves better when she was ignoring her own problems. At least the nightmares weren’t as frequent, and they weren’t always about Palpatine or Anakin. Sometimes, they were old fears coming back to haunt her. She saw her planet under years of occupation, her people dying slow deaths. She saw civil war break out between the Naboo and the Gungans. She saw herself being killed during a takeover by the Security Forces. If she was being honest with herself, she’d rather see all of that than see Anakin with hate in his eyes as he struck her down with his lightsaber or choked her with his own hands or dismembered Obi-Wan as she watched, completely helpless.

Trying to push those images into the darkest corners of her mind, Padmé got up to get ready for bed and hoped that she could at least get a full night’s rest before any Jedi tried to barge into her apartment.

Luckily, it wasn’t until the morning that the Jedi realized they’d been fooled.

Dormé rushed into the kitchen as Padmé was munching on something that was definitely too sweet to be considered breakfast food. Before Dormé even opened her mouth, Padmé knew what she was going to say.

“Two Jedi Masters are demanding entry.”

Sighing, Padmé put away the rest of her snack. “Tell them it is highly inappropriate and downright offensive that they demand to enter the home of a senator, especially at such an early hour.” She walked out, and Dormé followed her. “If they wish to speak with me, they can wait until I’m at my office.”

“They won’t take no for an answer, Padmé.”

She looked at Dormé and saw the worry in her eyes, but there was nothing to worry about since the Jedi couldn’t physically harm her, nor did Padmé think they would try to do such a thing. Putting a hand on her good friend’s arm, she said, “Then let them in, but tell them they’ll have to wait for me to be properly dressed. And if they leave the area in which they are guided to, I will not stay quiet about their visit.”

Dormé smiled, but it had an edge to it. She wasn’t a fan of the Jedi High Council any more than Padmé was. “Of course.”

Padmé went to her bedroom and took her time getting dressed as she tried to guess which Masters were sent. Yoda should still be off-planet, thank the stars. She really couldn’t stand him anymore. Whoever they were, she wasn’t going to be intimidated by them. After what happened in the Council Chamber, they should know to not even bother trying to scare her into cooperating.

Finally going out to meet them, she saw Mace Windu and the Iktotchi member whose name she didn’t know. She did remember how hostile he was when they had questioned her, so she barely acknowledged him. At least Mace could be reasonable sometimes.

Mace stepped forward and got straight to the point. “Obi-Wan, Skywalker, and Padawan Tano are all missing. Would you happen to know anything about that?”

Padmé acted concerned and shocked, but they had to know her reaction was false. Still, she wanted to play the part. “This is the first I’m hearing about it. How could Anakin have disappeared when you were keeping such a close watch on him?”

“We think they had outside help,” the Iktotchi said.

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t offer any assistance.” She paused. “But even if I _did_ know anything, do you actually think I would tell you, after everything you’ve done and were planning to do?”

The Iktotchi stepped toward her, but Mace put an arm out to stop him, shaking his head minutely. “Look, I understand how you feel,” Mace said.

“Do you really?”

He stared at her for a moment before he completely took her by surprise. “I know that Anakin never wanted to be a Sith, that he feels betrayed by Palpatine. We _all_ feel betrayed by Palpatine. I think he can be rehabilitated.”

That was news to the Iktotchi, judging by his reaction. Padmé didn’t even have to fake her disbelief.

“Palpatine had been manipulating Anakin for years,” Mace continued, “and no one had noticed it was happening. If he can be fixed—”

“‘Fixed’?” Her hands instantly clenched into fists at her sides. “Anakin is not a _thing_. He’s a person. So don’t you dare talk about him as if he’s a malfunctioning droid.” She wanted to scream at Mace, but that wouldn’t make her feel any better, so she gave him her best death glare instead. “I don’t know where he is, but I will look into it myself. And if I do find him, don’t expect me to share that information with you. Now get out.”

Mace just sighed, while the Iktotchi said, “Master Yoda will not be pleased with your lack of cooperation.”

“I don’t really care what he’ll think.”

“Is this what we get after we helped you? When you were Queen? When there were attempts made on your life?”

Padmé had the perfect answer to such a question. “I have always appreciated the help of the Jedi, and I still believe that you can do good in the galaxy, but you need to reevaluate yourselves as an organization. Look at what’s happened to you. You’ve been following the orders of a Sith Lord for over a _decade_ , and he even helped create an army for you. The war has made you into something you weren’t supposed to be, which is what he wanted.”

“How dare you speak of what you know nothing about!” the Iktotchi shouted.

Dormé, who had been watching the entire scene play out, took a step forward, but Padmé shook her head. She was in no danger.

“Senator Amidala has a point,” Mace said calmly, “and there are members who wish to reflect on the events of the past few years. With everything that’s been revealed, we have a lot of thinking to do. Perhaps, there are even changes that need to be made.”

“Does Yoda feel that way?” When Mace remained silent, she said, “You will try to find Anakin, though.”

“Of course. He can’t hide forever.”

“And if you do find him?”

Mace only bowed slightly and apologized for disturbing her in her home. Then they finally left.

Padmé felt completely drained, almost as if she hadn’t gotten any sleep at all. She knew that if the Jedi did find them, they wouldn’t be taken back without a fight. She trusted that all of them would hold their own just fine.

When Dormé asked if she would still be going to her office, Padmé nodded. There was a lot of work to be done.

\------

Soon after entering hyperspace, Anakin realized he was starving. Ahsoka turned out to be just as hungry, so she pulled out two ration bars from the pack and passed one to Anakin.

“You want one?” she asked Obi-Wan.

“No, thank you,” he said as he got up from the pilot’s chair.

They sat in the cargo hold, each of them exhausted. Once Anakin finished his ration bar, he cuddled up against Obi-Wan’s side and tried not to laugh when he tensed. _You know Ahsoka doesn’t care, right?_ he sent to him. When he looked at her, she was practically asleep already. Then Anakin began to worry that he really was crossing a line, but Obi-Wan slowly relaxed.

 _I’ll have to get used to being like this in front of people who aren’t Padmé_ , he sent back.

Anakin smiled and brushed his fingers against Obi-Wan’s arm. _I can’t believe you just left the Order. Are you alright?_

 _I was going to be expelled anyway_ , he pointed out. _I’ll be fine . . . eventually._

He was almost too excited about seeing his mother to fall asleep, but he did anyway. When he woke up, he was alone, but he was covered by his cloak, and another one was bundled under his head as a makeshift pillow. He lied there for a moment, finally letting it sink in that he was no longer a Jedi, and he found that he didn’t actually mind it. After all, he was planning on leaving once the war was over and Ahsoka was knighted. Anakin wished he could have said goodbye to the 501st, though. He wondered what would happen to the clones when there were no battles to be fought.

Artoo suddenly rolled in to say they were about to leave hyperspace to change routes, so Anakin followed him into the cockpit, mildly surprised that he’d been asleep for that long. Ahsoka got up from the copilot’s chair as soon as she saw him, but he gestured for her to sit back down. When they entered realspace a few minutes later, Anakin desperately wanted to contact Padmé, but they couldn’t risk the call getting traced back to their location. Just being in that sector, the Jedi would know to look for them on Tatooine, not that it would be easy to find them on that dustball.

“So when will Padmé join us?” he tried to ask casually.

Obi-Wan clearly saw right through him, but he didn’t comment on it. “It may actually be us joining her, but either way, it depends on how long it will take for the war to be officially over.” He punched in the coordinates, and they jumped back into hyperspace.

“The Council will be watching her every move, too,” Ahsoka brought up.

He deflated a little. He wished he could have had more time with her before he left, but at least he knew he would see her again.

It would still be a few hours before they reached Tatooine, so they had to figure out what to do in the meantime. Anakin wasn’t just going to sit there in silence or go back to sleep, even though he felt like he could use a few more days’ worth. Then he remembered that he needed to have an important talk with Ahsoka.

“When did you decide to leave the Order?”

“Yesterday.”

His eyes widened. “Only yesterday?!”

Obi-Wan didn’t seem very surprised.

She shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, but I didn’t actually make up my mind until after Master Obi-Wan went over the plan with me and Padmé.” Looking out into hyperspace, she asked quietly, “Do you know what happened to me in the future?”

He didn’t, and he didn’t want to know because he was so afraid that he’d killed her. It was bad enough that he had killed Padmé and was trying to kill Obi-Wan. Anakin didn’t want to think that he was capable of murdering his entire family. While the actions of his future self still bothered him, he’d finally gotten to the point where he could separate himself from it all. That was a version of Anakin Skywalker that was never going to exist again.

“I was framed for murder, and the Council expelled me so that I could be tried as a citizen of the Republic. They _knew_ there was a good chance I would be executed, but they didn’t care. You managed to prove my innocence at the last second, and the Council invited me back and pretended it was my Trial for Knighthood.” She looked back at him with a scowl. “While I won’t judge them for something they haven’t done in our timeline, I could see them doing it based on what they _have_ done. Palpatine got what he wanted in that the Jedi Order has become morally bankrupt.”

Anakin didn’t disagree, but he decided to keep that to himself. He looked at Obi-Wan, curious as to how he felt about what she said. It had to be difficult for him to hear the Order be spoken about with such bitterness. The Order was his life, and Anakin still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that Obi-Wan had essentially given it all up for him.

Obi-Wan caught him staring, and he seemed to know what Anakin was thinking. “I agree with her,” he said simply.

“What?” It came out as barely a whisper.

“I began doubting the Council back when you were starving yourself.”

“But that was almost two weeks ago. Why haven’t you said anything?”

“I wanted to reflect on my thoughts on my own.”

“Which translates to a _lot_ of meditation,” Ahsoka piped up.

“Well, yes. I realized that I wasn’t happy staying with the Order for the same reason Ahsoka just stated.” Then he looked off to the side, his lips pressed tightly together. Running a hand through his hair, he eventually said, “I thought maybe I could find happiness with you and Padmé instead.” It had sounded like the words were dragged out of him.

Anakin smiled, feeling warm all of a sudden. If it wouldn’t have made Obi-Wan feel even more awkward, Anakin would have pulled him up into a hug.

Ahsoka just grinned and leaned over to give him a light punch on the shoulder. “Who knew you’re such a softie? Keep that up, and Anakin’s mother will love you.”

He only sighed in response.

The rest of their trip was spent on light-hearted topics, and Anakin didn’t even care that Obi-Wan was sharing embarrassing stories about him. It was so good to see them laughing.

When they finally reached Tatooine, Anakin took control of the flying. Somehow, he still remembered exactly where the Lars homestead was located. He had a tiny bout of fear that something had happened to his mother since her last message to him, but he shoved it aside. He would know. He was sure of it.

After they landed, he ran out before the ramp went down completely, ignoring the blast of midday heat as his heart attempted to beat out of his chest. There was a young man by a vaporator who he assumed was his step-brother, so he ran over to him. The man took a defensive stance, but once Anakin was close enough, recognition sparked in his eyes.

“Hello, Owen. Is my mother home?” He spoke so quickly, he wasn’t even sure if Owen understood him.

“Hello, Anakin,” he replied with a slight nod. “She’s inside with Beru. What’s going on?”

But Anakin ignored the question and rushed down the steps. He called out to her, smiling once he felt her presence in the Force. Then he saw her, still looking the same as she did two years ago. She met him halfway and held him tightly, swaying him back and forth like she used to when he was a child. He almost started to cry. “I missed you so much,” he said into her hair.

“Oh, Ani. I missed you, too.” She held him for a moment longer before she pulled back and rested her hands on his shoulders. “Have you gotten taller?”

He laughed. “I think I was done growing by the time you last saw me.”

She reached up and tried to smooth out his hair. “While I’m so happy that you’re here, I can’t help but worry that something has happened.”

His smile faded, but before he could say anything, Owen and Beru entered the room. Anakin looked at them nervously. He didn’t really know them. His step-father had died almost two years ago, so the homestead now belonged to Owen. His mother had told him that she had a good relationship with her step-son, so even if Owen wasn’t thrilled about Anakin being there, maybe his mother could persuade him to let them all stay.

After a beat, Owen took a step forward. “Anakin, what’s going on? Why are you here?”

“I left the Jedi Order. Well, more like I escaped from the Order,” he answered honestly.

Everyone in the room tensed.

“What do you mean ‘escaped’?” Owen asked, eyes narrowed. “Are you on the run from the Jedi?”

While technically true, it sounded so ridiculous to Anakin. “They won’t even think to look for me on Tatooine, so don’t worry. We just need a place to lie low for a short time while we figure out what to do next.”

“Wait, you didn’t come alone?” Beru asked, perking up considerably. “Did Padmé come with you?”

He realized that Obi-Wan and Ahsoka must have stayed on the ship, probably not wanting to interrupt his reunion with his mother.

“Shmi told us that the two of you got married,” Owen said.

He had accidentally let that slip the one time they actually spoke to each other. While there hadn’t been time to go see his mother during the mission on Tatooine, Anakin had managed to get a few minutes to himself so that he could contact her before he was out of range. “We did, but she’s still on Coruscant since the war isn’t actually over yet.” He turned back to his mother, grinning. After talking about them in his messages, she’d finally get to meet the rest of his family. “Obi-Wan and Ahsoka came with me.”

“It will be nice to have faces to go along with the names after all this time,” she said with a smile.

Looking at the three of them, he said, “We don’t want to impose. We’ll stay on the ship, and we’ll move it if you don’t want it on your land.”

Both his mother and Beru looked pointedly at Owen, and he sighed. “You don’t have to stay on your ship. We’ll make room for you.”

His shoulders drooped in relief. Anakin really didn’t want to sleep on that ship again. “Thank you. We’ll help out around the homestead while we’re here.”

Owen nodded and gave Beru’s shoulder a pat before they both left the room, presumably to give Anakin and his mother some privacy.

He couldn’t stop smiling at her. She was really standing in front of him. It wasn’t a dream. Anakin would have liked the circumstances of their meeting to be different, but seeing her in person filled him with so much joy he felt like he would burst.

“I have to tell you something,” he said, barely able to contain his excitement. “Even with the encryption, it was too risky to say it in my messages, but me and Obi-Wan are together.”

Shmi raised her eyebrows. “Isn’t he your teacher?”

“Not for two years now. Remember? Once I was knighted, I didn’t need a teacher anymore.” She frowned at him, and he instantly became disheartened. Anakin knew what she was thinking. “No, Mom, it’s not like that. He makes me happy. Please understand.”

She crossed her arms. “And what about Padmé?”

“She loves him, too. I know it’s strange, but we’re all in a relationship together.” Their arrangement wasn’t the norm on Tatooine, so his mother’s confusion was expected. Still, he had hoped that she would be accepting.

His mother stared at him for what felt like an eternity, but then she shook her head and gave him a hug. “I can’t make any promises.”

Just before they stepped outside together, Anakin told Obi-Wan to come out through their bond, so when Anakin and his mother reached the ship, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had already descended the ramp. They both bowed slightly to her, and Anakin could see amusement dancing in her eyes. A former slave wasn’t used to people bowing to them.

“It’s an honor to meet you,” Obi-Wan said, his voice not betraying just how nervous he was.

Ahsoka nodded in agreement.

His mother smiled at them warmly. “And it is nice to finally meet the both of you. Anakin has talked about you in his messages.”

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka looked a bit startled at that, and Anakin felt Obi-Wan’s nervousness slowly increase. He knew he should probably calm him down, say that the only bad things he told his mother about him were inconsequential, but he was enjoying the fact that Obi-Wan could react to the situation like a normal person.

“Please, come inside,” his mother said as she swept her arm back. “You must be hungry.”

Everyone got introduced to each other, and just like Anakin had promised, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan also offered to help in whatever way they could in exchange for food and shelter. Owen said that the vaporators were due for maintenance, so Anakin volunteered to assist him with that task in the morning. Beru instantly took a liking to Ahsoka, asking her all sorts of questions about the various worlds she’d been to. Anakin hadn’t realized what a good storyteller she was.

When his mother went to set up a room for them, he followed. Something was bothering her, and he wasn’t going to say anything in front of the others. “What is it, Mom?” he asked as he helped her put sheets onto the mattress. It lied directly on the floor, but they’d all slept on worse, so none of them would care.

She pursed her lips in the same way she used to after he’d done something rash as a child. “Obi-Wan is quite a bit older than you.”

“He’s not _that_ much older.” Anakin wasn’t going to tell her by how many years. It helped that Obi-Wan didn’t actually look his age, no matter how often he complained to Anakin about feeling old. If he shaved, he looked almost as young as Anakin.

Then she got close to him and whispered, “Is it possible that he’s just using you for your body?”

“Mom!” He felt his face get hot, and he wished the floor would open up under him. “We haven’t even . . . done that yet.” He was so mortified that Obi-Wan gave a slight tug on their bond as a way of asking him if he was alright, and Anakin quickly tugged back to signify that everything was fine. He wanted to die. “I understand your concern, but it’s really unnecessary because Obi-Wan would _never_ take advantage of me. He isn’t my teacher anymore. He’s my best friend.”

His mother didn’t look very convinced. “Things must be so different in the Core worlds.” She clasped his hand between her own and looked into his eyes. “But as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Anakin smiled at her, relieved. “I am, very much.” Well, he was happy with Padmé and Obi-Wan. His life in general was an entirely different story.

Suddenly, he realized there was a way he could help her understand. He gave her the shortened version of what had happened in the past few weeks. He even told her about Padmé being from the future since she knew he’d never make up something like that, and she viewed everything related to the Force as some kind of magic anyway.

She took a moment to process it all before she nodded and squeezed his hand. “Then I am grateful to him, to both him and Padmé. I didn’t know that the Jedi Order was like that.”

“It was still better than actual slavery, but if it wasn’t for Padmé, I would have become something truly horrible.” He looked off to the side. “I should have left years ago.”

“And the one who wanted to make you his slave? You said he was quite powerful, so are you sure that he’s dead?”

Anakin glared at the wall. “Yes, very sure.”

She pulled him into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Ani. You had been suffering, and there was nothing I could have done about it.”

He shook his head, feeling a sense of calm wash over him. “Your messages these past two years really helped. Once the Jedi finally give up on me, I’ll be able to visit you.”

“And how long do you think that will take?”

He backed away and rubbed his arm. “I don’t know. One of the leaders of the Order practically thinks I’m evil, and he’s almost 900 years old, so he’s mastered the art of patience. But it will work out somehow. Even if the Jedi do find us, we won’t be taken down easily.”

“Isn’t Ahsoka a child, though?”

“Well, yeah, technically. But she’s very skilled and has gotten out of some tough situations on her own.” He beamed. “I’m really proud of her.”

She gave him a weak smile. “She’s far too young to have been fighting in a war. I’m tired of seeing children who aren’t allowed to be children.”

Anakin understood how she felt, even though he never actually looked at it from that angle. He wondered what Ahsoka thought about it, but he was almost too afraid to ask her.

After he was done helping her set up the room, Anakin went outside to watch the suns set. He brought his cloak from the ship with him so that he wouldn’t have to sit directly on the sand. As much as he disliked Tatooine, there were moments when it had a certain beauty. He’d stopped thinking of it as home a long time ago, but he supposed he would always have some nostalgia for it because of his mother.

He heard the soft crunch of approaching footsteps and looked over when Obi-Wan sat next to him. Unable to help himself, Anakin gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, and he received a tired smile in return.

“I’ll start going over the map tomorrow to see where we should go next,” Obi-Wan said. “We’ll have to stay on the move for a little while, but I’m not sure how long Yoda will want to waste resources looking for us.”

Anakin only nodded, not wanting to say that he felt like Yoda would never stop looking since he saw him as such a large threat.

Obi-Wan watched the sky for a moment before he said quietly, “I don’t think your mother likes me very much.”

Anakin cringed. He thought his mother had been subtle enough about it, so he’d been hoping that Obi-Wan hadn’t noticed. “She felt that there’s a power imbalance between us. Because I was in your charge for so long, she didn’t think it’s . . . appropriate for us to be together like this. I already talked to her about it, though, so I think she’ll start to warm up to you.”

Obi-Wan looked at him, uncertainty evident in his eyes. “You know I see you as my equal, right?”

“Yeah, I do, and now my mom knows.”

Obi-Wan turned his gaze to the desert before them and sighed. “I never should have told you to call me ‘master.’”

“I knew it was different, even as a child,” Anakin said gently. “I never saw you as my owner.”

“Then why did you tell me that you’re free for the first time in your life?”

Anakin knew that was another important moment where he had to think before speaking. At least Obi-Wan caught on that time and remained silent. Anakin wanted to word it in a way that Obi-Wan wouldn’t start blaming himself again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was relieved that Obi-Wan could be emotional about some subjects. It made Anakin feel a little less like a total disaster.

“The Order was so restrictive. I couldn’t truly be myself because to be myself would have gotten me thrown onto the streets or worse. And I’m not talking about anything like the dark side. I wasn’t allowed to _feel_ , and I wasn’t very good at handling that. It probably would have been better if I’d never become a Jedi, but if I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you and Ahsoka, and I probably wouldn’t have met Padmé again. If you hadn’t given in to your feelings, I know the Chancellor would have had a stronger hold on me. You gave me another outlet, one from within the Order, and I desperately needed that.” Then he laughed. “In a way, you letting yourself love me helped to save the galaxy.”

He raised an eyebrow. “That’s ridiculous.”

Anakin smiled at him and bumped their shoulders together. He didn’t vocalize his questions about what happened in Padmé’s future to make Obi-Wan’s love for him mean nothing. Those were answers he would never get.

Obi-Wan rubbed his beard, suddenly looking as though he hadn’t slept in days. “I apologize for not being a better mas—teacher. In those early years, I knew you were struggling with your emotions, but I didn’t do anything about it. I thought that if it was bad enough, you would come to me for help.”

“It’s okay.” Anakin turned Obi-Wan’s head toward him and gave him a proper kiss. “We’re here, aren’t we?”

Wrapping an arm around Anakin’s waist, Obi-Wan smiled at him, but there was a deep sadness behind it.

“I hope I’m not interrupting a snuggling session,” Ahsoka said as she walked up to them.

Groaning, Obi-Wan hid his face in Anakin’s shoulder, while Anakin just laughed and patted the spot on the other side of him.

She smoothed out the cloak before she sat down. “I like your mother. She’s very kind.” Ahsoka grinned at him. “And she told me the story about how you chased banthas away when you were five so that they wouldn’t get shot. I guess you’ve been trying to save everyone your whole life.”

Well, there were worse stories she could have told.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” Obi-Wan said, extracting himself from Anakin’s side. “Whether they’re sentient or not, you care too much about those around you, sometimes to the point of endangering your own safety.”

Anakin shrugged.

“Is Artoo still on the ship?” Ahsoka asked.

“Yeah, but he’s powered down to conserve energy. I don’t want to use their electricity, if it can be helped. Even though it’s not in short supply since they get it from the suns, I want to intrude as little as possible.”

She nodded. “How long are we staying then?”

“No more than a few days,” Obi-Wan said. “Hopefully, we won’t always be on the run.”

“Yoda has to die at some point,” Anakin said nonchalantly.

Obi-Wan tapped him on the arm. “Anakin, don’t wish death on someone.”

“I’m not, but Yoda’s old, and he’s not immortal.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked out at the vibrant colors in the sky. “Don’t expect me to mourn his death.” He could see Obi-Wan’s frown out of the corner of his eye, but he wasn’t admonished any further.

“Yoda’s been the Grand Master for too long,” Ahsoka said as she took a handful of sand and let it fall between her fingers. “Maybe the Council members who were bothered by what happened to you will try to push for change.”

“Yoda will never allow it,” Obi-Wan said glumly. “He thinks everything is fine as it is since it’s been this way for hundreds of years.”

“Obviously, it’s _not_ fine because look what happened!”

Obi-Wan leaned forward to look at her from around Anakin. “Calm down, Ahsoka. I don’t disagree with you. For now, we need to focus on avoiding the Jedi. Let those who are still in the Order attempt to change it.”

She glared at the sand, but Anakin could already feel the anger leave her.

The suns had finally disappeared from the horizon, and it was starting to get a little chilly. Standing, Anakin suggested they go back inside, and he shook out his cloak in disgust, closing his eyes against the flying granules.

After Obi-Wan and Ahsoka said their goodnights to everyone, Anakin went up to his mother and gave her a gentle hug. “I’m so glad that you’re okay.”

“Oh, Ani,” she said as she rubbed his back. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

“I don’t know.” He pulled away from her. “Are you happy here, Mom?”

“I am,” she replied with confidence. Then she began fussing with his hair. “I don’t understand how it got so curly.”

He smiled and enjoyed the motherly attention for a moment before he gave her a kiss on both cheeks. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, my sweet boy.”

When he got to their room, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were arguing about who should get the mattress. Amused, Anakin watched them for a couple of minutes before he stepped in and said, “I agree with Obi-Wan. You should take the bed, Ahsoka.”

“But, Master, I’ll be fine with the pile of blankets.”

Anakin didn’t bother correcting her about calling him “master” since he knew it was a habit, but he’d have to talk to her about calling him by his name, not only because they weren’t Jedi anymore but also because “master” had a very different connotation on Tatooine. He didn’t want his mother to hear Ahsoka call him that and become upset. At least she had used his name when she’d talked about him in her stories.

“But with being so close to the floor, you’ll be cold. Me and Obi-Wan can use each other’s body heat to stay warm.” When he saw that she was about to argue, he pulled Obi-Wan to the floor in front of him and wrapped his arms around him, narrowing his eyes at her as he rested his chin on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Obi-Wan merely froze, probably because he wasn’t used to Anakin playing around in such a physical way.

Ahsoka laughed and plopped down onto the mattress. “Okay, fine. You win.”

They all got settled soon after that, and he could tell that Ahsoka fell asleep almost instantly. For once, Anakin was so exhausted that sleep was coming easy to him. It helped that Obi-Wan was holding him close. He had grumbled about being cold, but Anakin knew that was just an excuse. The chill of Tatooine’s nights was nothing to someone who grew up on Coruscant.

Tomorrow would be the start of a new life for all of them, and Anakin’s excitement outweighed his fear of what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured it would make sense that Shmi wouldn’t be too happy about Anakin’s relationship with Obi-Wan. The fact that Obi-Wan used to be an authority figure to Anakin makes her worry if her son actually has any agency in the relationship, and the age gap certainly doesn’t help. Shmi and Obi-Wan will have a chance to talk in the next chapter.
> 
> As for Padmé and the Council, Mace is slowly coming around, but Yoda is going to make up for that.
> 
> (Oh, and that bit about Anakin saving banthas when he was five is from the TPM novelization.)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be busy for the next two days, so I decided to update early. Enjoy!

“I didn’t think it would take them this long to complete the investigation,” Padmé said as she sat beside Bail in his repulsorpod.

He nodded, his eyes darting to the section of the rotunda where the majority of Palpatine’s supporters were seated. “I suppose they wanted to be very thorough. Saying that Palpatine was secretly working against the Republic would earn them a lot of backlash if they don’t have enough evidence to back it up. Well, I’m assuming that’s the conclusion they reached.”

“It is. I spoke with one of the inspectors almost a week ago.”

When Mon raised her hand, everyone became quiet. “Inspector Fohaan, please tell us the result the Security Force’s investigation.”

Fohaan and her fellow inspector stood in their repulsorpod. “After thirteen days, the investigation conducted by the Coruscant Security Force is now closed. The late Chancellor Sheev Palpatine has been found to be a traitor to the Galactic Republic with suspicions of him being a Sith Lord.” One section of the rotunda erupted as senators got to their feet and began shouting in an attempt to drown out Fohaan’s announcement. “The murder charge against Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker has been dropped,” she said, raising her voice to be heard over the clamor, “and the full report will be made available to the public after this session is over.”

“Thank you, Inspector,” Mon said, bowing her head slightly. Then she turned to the source of the shouting, disapproval clear on her face. “Senators, if you do not calm yourselves, you _will_ be removed.” Of course, they didn’t stop, so Mon made a hand gesture, and multiple guards forced the unruly senators out of the rotunda. “Now that that is settled, I would like for us to focus on ending this war. I have been contacted by the Confederacy, and they wish to start negotiations immediately. I will put this to a vote, and please remember that accepting negotiations does not mean that you won’t have a say in whatever is decided. It would be a completely transparent, and inclusive, process.”

After a few minutes, the vote came through as one of acceptance. The talks would begin in two days.

Padmé was beyond relieved. As the session came to an end, she put a hand on Bail’s arm and asked quietly, “May I speak with you in private?”

Bail raised his eyebrows. “Of course. Your office, I assume?”

She nodded, and they walked in silence for a few minutes before she noticed his stiff gait. “It’s nothing to be alarmed about, I promise.”

He relaxed, but he still requested something alcoholic from Threepio.

After they had their drinks, Padmé got right to it. “Anakin is no longer on Coruscant.”

He froze with the glass nearly to his lips. “I didn’t think the Council would send him on a mission while he was still a murder suspect.”

“They didn’t.” She sighed and leaned against the back of the sofa. “The Council had decided to lock Anakin up for life because they think he’s too dangerous to be out on his own. So with my help, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka broke him out of the Temple two nights ago.”

Eyes wide, Bail slowly lowered his glass until it rested in his lap. “All because he killed Palpatine, whom they _know_ was a Sith Lord?”

“All because he used the dark side to kill Palpatine.”

And she told him everything, what had actually happened that day and what the Council had been doing ever since. It was a relief to tell someone what had really been going on. It wasn’t safe to contact Anakin and the others, so Padmé had no one to talk to, and she couldn’t stand holding onto so many secrets.

Bail shook his head. “I can’t believe the Jedi would do something like that. I thought they allow anyone to leave the Order if they wish to.” He’d always respected the Jedi, so it had to be difficult for him to hear that they could be irrational and cruel.

“They do, but after what happened, they’re afraid of him and what he’s capable of. They probably think he’ll become a Sith if they let him go, even though that’s completely absurd.” She had to take a deep breath to calm herself. Anakin was safe, and he wouldn’t turn to the dark side. “I don’t think they would have reacted like this decades ago. Palpatine really did a number on them.”

He rubbed his eyes, clearly needing a moment to let it all sink in. “I don’t understand how the dark side works, but I trust your opinion, and Obi-Wan’s, that Skywalker is still a good person.”

She smiled at him, but she knew it was strained. “The Council has already confronted me about their disappearances. I’m not sure how long they’ll look for them.”

Resting a hand on her shoulder, he said, “I’m sorry it came to that, Padmé. It’s an awful position to be in, not knowing when you’ll be able to even speak with your husband.”

“I’m used to it because of the war, and at least he’s with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.” In the spirit of being honest, she added, “I’m with Obi-Wan as well.”

“With Obi-Wan?” He furrowed his brow as he looked downwards in thought, and she could tell when it hit him. “Oh! Well, I . . . definitely didn’t see that one coming.”

She chuckled. So her relationship with Anakin was obvious, but not her relationship with Obi-Wan. She decided to put the blame on Anakin for that. “Obi-Wan and Anakin are also together, so that didn’t help his situation. Since attachments are forbidden, Obi-Wan was going to be expelled after the war ended.”

He blinked at her in shock. “All three of you?”

“Yes. I know it’s odd.”

“Not at all,” Bail said with a smile. “Triads are somewhat common on Alderaan. I’m just surprised because Naboo tends to be rather conservative.”

Padmé almost rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s not as if my parents would approve.”

She wished she could have told them about Anakin in person, but she didn’t have a choice if they were find out before she told the Senate. They hadn’t exactly taken it very well, mostly because she’d lied to them about it for two years. They were only slightly mollified by the fact that they had at least met him when he had been her bodyguard on Naboo. Her sister simply couldn’t understand what she saw in Anakin, but Padmé didn’t have the time, or the energy, to explain. And if she was to tell them about Obi-Wan? She wouldn’t be disowned, but she knew her relationship with her parents would be very strained for quite some time.

Bail looked like he wanted to ask her something, so she raised her eyebrows at him and waited.

“Did you know that Palpatine was a Sith Lord before he revealed himself?”

That wasn’t the question she was expecting. Would he think her insane if she told him the truth? It wasn’t as though she usually said such bizarre things.

She nodded slowly. “I did. I’m from the future, Bail, a little less than a year from now. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are the only ones who know.”

It took him a while to process that, but he eventually asked, “How did you go back in time?”

Padmé looked away from him, her hands clenched in her dress. “I died. Everything we had worked so hard for was all for nothing. The Jedi were killed, and Palpatine took full control over the galaxy. He had so much power by that point that he was practically a dictator anyway. He just finally admitted it out in the open.” She looked back at him and felt sadness nearly overwhelm her. “The Senate cheered, Bail. They cheered for the death of democracy.”

“That sounds like a nightmare,” he said quietly. Bail brought the glass up to his lips and threw back the liquid like it was a shot. “Your determination to prove Palpatine was a traitor makes a lot more sense now.”

“You believe me?”

“Well, those three do, so why not?” He shrugged. Putting the empty glass on the table, he said, “Thank you for telling me what’s really been going on. If you need any help dealing with the Council, just let me know.”

She smiled, incredibly grateful to have him as a friend. “I hope I won’t have to take you up on that.”

\------

Obi-Wan felt restless. Anakin was outside with Owen, helping him with the monthly maintenance of their vaporators, and Ahsoka was with Beru, somehow doing laundry without water. He wanted—no, _needed_ —to do something, so he went looking for Shmi. She was an important person to Anakin, so he wanted to be on good terms with her, and asking if she needed help with anything seemed like a decent place to start.

She was going over something written on a piece of flimsi when he found her. Before he could even open his mouth, Shmi looked up at him and said, “I’m going to Mos Eisley to get some food and supplies. You could come if you’d like.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if she knew what he was going to ask or if she just wanted an opportunity to interrogate the man who was in a relationship with her son. Either way, he nodded and followed her out of the dome.

They passed Anakin and Owen on the way to the speeder. Apparently, they had finished working on the ones that were much farther out into the desert.

 _Where are you going?_ Anakin asked.

_To get supplies. You said you spoke with your mother about us, so everything should be fine, right?_

Anakin didn’t answer right away. _Mostly._

That wasn’t very reassuring.

As Shmi was arranging the various satchels and containers she’d brought into the backseat, Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if it would be considered rude to offer to fly, so he quickly asked Anakin.

 _It’d be rude,_ he confirmed, _like you think she’s terrible at flying._

Obi-Wan was glad he asked, but he realized that he had no knowledge of Tatooine culture at all since Anakin rarely spoke of his homeworld. He was afraid that he’d make numerous mistakes, and then she really would hate him.

 _You’ll do fine, Obi-Wan._ Anakin could probably feel his anxiety. _She won’t expect an offworlder to know everything._

He got into the passenger side, and they flew away from the homestead without a word, but the silence quickly grew awkward. While he was usually very good at conversation, it seemed that went out the window when Anakin’s mother was concerned. It didn’t help that he knew she wasn’t fond of him, that she had probably thought he was taking advantage of her son. Maybe Anakin wasn’t very convincing, and she still thought that.

“How far is Mos Eisley?” he eventually asked.

“At this speed, about 20 minutes.”

Well, it could have been worse. She could have said an hour. But 20 minutes would feel like a lifetime if he couldn’t think of something to talk about.

“Anakin told me about what happened to Qui-Gon.”

Obi-Wan had forgotten that she’d known his old master. He wondered what she thought of him. Qui-Gon had freed Anakin, but he brought him into what ended up being a horrible situation, not that any of them could have predicted that.

“Did Qui-Gon tell you to train Anakin, or did you take it upon yourself to do so?”

Obviously, she was better at coming up with something to say.

“It was Qui-Gon’s dying wish.”

“So you were there in the end.”

“He died in my arms.” Obi-Wan rarely thought about it anymore, but whenever he did, pain bloomed in his chest.

“I’m sorry.”

He could tell she was sincere. Perhaps Shmi didn’t hold it against Qui-Gon for not being able to free her. And despite what happened to Anakin, it was still better than slavery. Would the man who ended up marrying Shmi have freed her if she still had her son? He had no idea what it cost to free a slave, but even though he’d only just met Shmi, he knew she wouldn’t allow herself to be freed without Anakin. He had never asked Anakin how he felt about leaving his mother in slavery since it was an incredibly sensitive topic.

“It’s alright. It was a long time ago.”

“But you seem sad.”

“I’m sad for a lot of reasons. It’s been my permanent state of being lately.” Obi-Wan thought honesty was the best track to take, especially since she gave him a feeling that she was the kind of person who could easily spot lies.

“Because of Anakin?”

“Some of it, but he didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked at her and noticed that she had a very good sabacc face. He even had a hard time sensing her emotions in the Force. “Did Anakin tell you why we left the Order?”

“He did.”

Obi-Wan was curious as to just how much he told her. “Even though Anakin doesn’t blame me for what happened with Palpatine, I will always feel responsible. If I had truly been there for him, Palpatine wouldn’t have been able to abuse him.”

“Anakin doesn’t look at it that way. He blames the Council. He complained about them in his messages to me more than he did about you.” Looking at him, she asked bluntly, “Do you love Anakin?”

“With all my heart.” He knew better than to hesitate.

Shmi nodded, her eyes back on the expanse before them. “And you will keep him safe?”

“Yes, to the best of my ability.” Obi-Wan knew they couldn’t keep dancing around the real issue, and he had a feeling he’d regret bringing it up, but maybe she was waiting for him to do so. “I want you to know that I never saw Anakin in that way when he was my Padawan, my student. It hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

Shmi narrowed her eyes, but she kept looking ahead. “You’re much older than Anakin.”

Obi-Wan realized he was going to have bare his soul to her to make her understand. He felt unbelievably self-conscious. “I admit that there is a rather large age gap between us, but I don’t feel that grants me power. I do understand your reservations about us, though. I had actually hoped Anakin _didn’t_ feel the same way because then everything wouldn’t become so complicated. I’m actually . . . quite terrible when it comes to emotions. With the way I was raised, I’m not very good at certain aspects of what one would call a ‘normal life,’ but he’s been surprisingly patient with me. I think Padmé has helped a lot as well. And believe me, if I ever exert power over Anakin, she would put a stop to that very quickly.” He paused and decided to go a step further. “Given our history, it’s possible I may do that without even realizing, but please know that I would never intentionally do such a thing. I see Anakin as my equal.”

Shmi’s posture relaxed slightly. “And you left everything you knew for Ani?”

He wondered what the significance of Anakin’s nickname was since it was the first time he heard Shmi call him that when not speaking directly to him. Padmé called Anakin that a lot, but it somehow felt wrong to use the nickname himself.

“Essentially, yes.”

She didn’t immediately ask another question, so he hoped she was satisfied, but that hope was short-lived.

“Do you love Padmé as well?”

Obi-Wan was caught off-guard by that question. “I . . . haven’t quite reached the point of love yet, but I would do almost anything for her.”

While Shmi didn’t say anything for some time after that, the silence wasn’t awkward like it was before. Eventually, when buildings could be seen on the horizon, she spoke up again. “I won’t ever understand what it is you all have, but I will make an offering in your names.”

“Thank you.”

He had no idea what that meant, but it didn’t sound like anything bad. He would have to ask Anakin when they returned.

\------

Padmé looked at the time and thought it wouldn’t be considered too early to head home. She was just so tired. Padmé had volunteered to be on the committee that would oversee the negotiations, and the preparation for that was a bit more than she expected since she only had two days to get it all done. Gathering her things, she was just about ready to leave when Teckla walked in.

“You have a visitor, milady,” she announced.

Padmé took in her stance and thought Teckla looked nervous, making her think it was someone from the Council bothering her at her office instead of her home. “They can schedule a meeting with me tomorrow. I’ve had a long day and would like to rest.”

“It’s Jedi Master Yoda.”

That would explain Teckla’s odd demeanor.

Padmé put her things on her desk, but she remained standing. “You can let him in,” she said quietly as she tried to mentally prepare herself for the confrontation.

Yoda entered slowly, using his gimer stick as if he wasn’t extremely agile, and stopped a few meters away from her.

“What do you want?” Padmé asked, not bothering with any pleasantries. “I already told Master Windu that I don’t know where Anakin is.”

“But you do,” he insisted.

She knew lying to him was pointless, but she was going to keep up the act. “I don’t.”

“His wife, you are. Why would he not tell you where he’s going, hmm?”

Seeing as how he wasn’t going to stop, she decided to tell a half-truth and hoped it would work out better for her than the last time. “I knew Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were going to break him out, but I specifically told them not to tell me what their destination was.”

Yoda remained silent for a moment, his eyes narrowing. “Believe you, I do not.” He took a few steps toward her and said, “For the good of the galaxy, tell me where Skywalker is, you must.”

“I don’t know!” she shouted, already having lost her patience. “Anakin is _not_ a danger to the galaxy. He just wants to live in peace with his family.”

“This family, who would that be?”

“Myself and Obi-Wan.” She didn’t say Ahsoka’s name because she preferred to keep her out of the conversation, but he probably knew anyway. Anakin had told her that he got scolded a few times for being too close with her, or at least what the Jedi considered to be “too close.”

“Two lovers, Skywalker has. Jealous, are you not?”

Padmé wasn’t going to tell him about her and Obi-Wan since there was no reason he had to know about that. “No. It’s possible to love two people at once.”

“Perhaps run away with Obi-Wan, Skywalker has, abandoning you.”

“Stop it,” she commanded, her voice pitched low. She wasn’t going to stand there and listen to such garbage. “I chose to remain on Coruscant because the war isn’t over yet, and I still have a job to do.”

“Tell me, and leniency, Skywalker will be granted.”

She almost laughed. “That’s a lie. We’re done here.” Padmé grabbed her things and tried to walk around him, but she felt her body freeze up for a second. It took her a moment to realize that he’d just used the Force to stop her.

“Tell me, you _must_.”

“Let me pass,” she said slowly.

He tapped his gimer stick against the floor. “A duty to protect the Republic, you have.”

“And so do you! But the Council cares more about protecting themselves. You refuse to accept that change is necessary, and the Order won’t survive if you keep going on as you are. Don’t you see what Palpatine was trying to do? He was _counting_ on your resistance to change.”

“Your Force signature,” he said, completely ignoring her argument. “Strange, it feels. Noticed it before, I had. Skywalker’s doing, perhaps?”

She frowned at him. “Of course not. Anakin hasn’t done anything to me.”

Then Yoda closed his eyes and held out a hand toward her.

Padmé staggered back, her breathing becoming erratic, as it felt like something was sifting through her insides. Her head was pounding, and her legs were shaking so badly that she almost thought she’d collapse to the floor. “Whatever . . . you’re doing . . . I demand that you stop.”

Yoda put his hand down abruptly and opened his eyes in shock. “Force-sensitive, you are.”

She felt a little nauseous, but at least the other symptoms had subsided. “What are you talking about?”

“Weak in the Force, you are, so no one would know unless they probed you.”

Knowing that was what he’d just done to her, Padmé felt violated. Anakin had mentioned a long time ago that the Council had probed him through the Force a few times, and he always hated it. She had thought it was because it implied they didn’t trust him, but now she wondered if he meant he hated how it felt.

“What happened, Senator Amidala? Force-sensitive from birth, you were not, or taken to the Temple as an infant, you would have been.”

She glared at him, her hands balled into fists at her sides. “Yes, because that’s what the Jedi do, take children from their families.”

When she was pregnant in the future, the fear that the Jedi would somehow find out about the child and try to take it from them had been eating away at her. She had no doubt that Anakin’s child would be strong in the Force, and even if the child had been Obi-Wan’s, she would have had that same fear. Before becoming pregnant, she never gave it much thought that the Jedi were legally allowed to take Force-sensitive children even if the parents refused. That was when she began to hate the Jedi as an organization.

Again, Yoda ignored her criticism and asked her what happened.

“Nothing happened.”

“Lying, you are.”

“I’m leaving,” Padmé said firmly as she walked around him.

“A Jedi, I will send every day until you confess,” he threatened.

“Go ahead.” She didn’t even bother turning around to face him. “I’ll never cooperate.” Then she finally walked out of her office.

Teckla still looked worried, and she held out her hands to silently offer to carry Padmé’s belongings for her. Padmé smiled at her and shook her head. She was alright.

But even she couldn’t believe that.

She was Force-sensitive? How? Did getting sent back in time do something to her? It would explain how she’d been able to sense certain things. She still remembered the unnatural coldness of Palpatine’s office, but she could never feel emotions from others. At least, she didn’t think so. She could usually guess what someone was feeling based on their expression and body language. But Padmé didn’t understand how any of it actually worked. She wished Obi-Wan was there. Anakin wouldn’t be able to stay calm long enough to be very helpful, not after learning what Yoda had done to her.

Padmé felt completely drained of energy, and she wondered if that was a side-effect of being probed. She shivered. Yoda wasn’t going to give up any time soon, but she already knew that. When the war ended, she would go home to Naboo because at least there, the Jedi couldn’t watch her as closely.

\------

Anakin and Owen finally finished doing their maintenance on the vaporators just as Obi-Wan and his mother returned from their supply run. He was dying to know how it went, but before he could walk away, Owen stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “That usually takes me all day.”

“No problem.” Anakin tried to leave, but Owen’s grip tightened. “Is there something—”

“Just what did you do to have the Jedi hunting you down?”

Anakin didn’t want to tell him, so he gave a vague answer that wasn’t too far from the truth. “The Jedi aren’t what they used to be, and I had to get away. Don’t worry, Owen. Even if they thought I’d come to Tatooine, it’s not like you’re easy to find.”

When Owen’s hand finally dropped, Anakin ran over to the speeder, but it turned out they didn’t need any help. Obi-Wan jokingly gave him a small bag of imported fruit to carry, which made his mother laugh. They both seemed to be in good spirits, so Anakin guessed that the trip went fine, but he still had to ask.

_So what happened?_

Obi-Wan glanced at him. _We talked, or rather, she asked me a lot of questions, while I tried not to pass out from sheer terror. We’re fine now, though._ He gave Anakin a slight smirk as they entered the storage room. _I may have told her some embarrassing stories about you._

Anakin wasn’t even annoyed. He was just glad they were getting along. He didn’t know what he’d do if his mother hated Obi-Wan.

_Oh, what does it mean to make an offering in someone’s name?_

Perking up, Anakin looked at his mother and smiled, but she was too busy putting everything away to notice. _It has different meanings, depending on the context, but it’s generally seen as an act of wishing that person happiness and good health. What exactly did she say?_ When Obi-Wan told him, his smile only grew wider. _That means she’s giving all of us her blessing, but since we’re free people, it could also mean she wants us to have a lot of children._ Anakin laughed at the nearly scandalized look on Obi-Wan’s face.

His mother raised an eyebrow at them. “What’s going on over there?”

Anakin walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before he took the container from her arms. “Nothing.”

\------

Ahsoka was still trying to get used to the fact that she was no longer a Jedi. She didn’t regret the choice she made, but like Obi-Wan, the Order was all she knew. It felt strange not having anyone to answer to. Since none of them were technically Jedi anymore, Anakin wasn’t her master, so he couldn’t tell her what to do. Plus, he asked her not to call him that, especially in front of his mother. She understood why without him having to explain, but it was going to be a hard habit to break.

She didn’t want to stay with Anakin and Obi-Wan for their entire journey because she knew she wouldn’t be able to figure out who she was unless she went off on her own. For the moment, though, it was safer to stick together. Ahsoka wasn’t sure what lengths the Council was willing to go to find them, and she was probably just as much a target as Anakin was. But she didn’t know how to tell them that she wanted to leave, especially since Anakin would take it personally.

“Is there something wrong?” Shmi asked.

Ahsoka looked up from her task. She was helping Shmi tend to the hydroponic gardens while the others cooked dinner. She though it was fascinating that plants could grow without soil. “No, everything’s fine,” Ahsoka said, hoping she sounded convincing.

Shmi stared at her with obvious worry before she said, “I know why you all left. Are you going to continue to follow them?”

“I do want to go out on my own at some point.”

She nodded, seeming to understand. “Anakin thinks of you as family.”

“I know,” Ahsoka replied with a smile. “I feel the same way about him, but I’m afraid my wanting to leave will upset him.”

Shmi pulled a few plants out of their trays. “I think that as long as you promise to stay in contact, he won’t take it too hard. Do you know where you’ll go?”

Ahsoka shrugged. “I was thinking of maybe visiting a planet where I’d helped a group of rebels fight against the Separatists.”

Sighing, Shmi put the plants in a small container and walked over to her. “I’m sorry that you got dragged into fighting a war.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that because she still hadn’t decided how she felt about the issue.

“If you ever want to come back, you’ll always be welcome here,” Shmi said as she rested a hand on her Ahsoka’s shoulder.

Ahsoka wasn’t expecting her to say that, and she got oddly choked up about it. The woman barely knew her, and she was offering her home as a refuge. Ahsoka wasn’t used to that level of kindness. Once she found her voice, she thanked her with great sincerity.

After diner, Anakin volunteered himself and Ahsoka to clean up. Ahsoka had a feeling he wanted to be alone with her because they hadn’t had the chance to talk in private since the escape. He must have communicated to Obi-Wan what his intentions were because he volunteered to help Shmi with whatever she was doing.

As Anakin showed her how to pack up the leftovers, Ahsoka focused on their bond, trying to get an idea of what sort of emotional state he was in. Surprisingly, all she could sense was peace. At least in that moment, Anakin was completely calm with none of the usual turmoil hovering in the background. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was with his mother or because he was no longer a part of the Jedi Order.

“I’m sorry,” Anakin said abruptly.

She blinked at him in confusion.

“I mean, I’m sorry that my actions led to this. You should have been allowed the chance to leave the Order the proper way, not by breaking me out of the Temple.”

“I probably wouldn’t have seen the truth if not for your actions, not that I condone your usage of the dark side.” Ahsoka put her hand on his arm, and he stopped ladling the stew into a container. “Of course I would have preferred to leave the Order in a different way, but I don’t regret leaving, and I don’t blame you for what happened. It was _their_ decision. They should have at least given you a trial.” She shrugged. “But then again, my trial by the Council in the future was a sham, so it probably wouldn’t have mattered.”

Anakin was quiet for a minute before he smiled at her tentatively. “Even though I’m not your master anymore, I’ll always be there for you when you need me.”

Realistically, that wasn’t a promise he could keep, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

\------

“We’re to leave tomorrow evening for Socorro, where we’ll gather supplies,” Obi-Wan said once the three of them were in their room for the night. “That’s one of the few worlds in the Outer Rim that takes Republic credits.”

“What are we going to _do_ for credits?” Anakin asked.

Obi-Wan was surprised it had taken that long for the question to come up. “Padmé had set up a private account a few weeks ago to be used after we escaped. She assured me that it would take months for someone to figure out who it actually belonged to, if they even think the account is suspicious in the first place.”

Ahsoka raised a brow-marking. “Is that legal?”

“Apparently, there’s nothing wrong with having an account under a different name. It’s not like we’re actually going to do anything illegal with the money.”

“Where will we go after Socorro?” Anakin asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Serenno.”

Neither of them looked happy about that answer in the slightest, but he didn’t blame them. Serenno was Dooku’s homeworld and part of the Confederacy, not to mention it was on the opposite side of the galaxy. “No one would expect us to go there, and by the time we make it to Serenno, the war might be over. We will have to make multiple stops along the way to get food and fuel, and I’ve already looked into how to transfer Republic credits to Separatist credits, so money won’t be an issue.” Seeing that they were still skeptical, he said, “You’re both free to disagree with the plan.”

Anakin and Ahsoka looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’m fine with you taking the lead,” Ahsoka said. “Can that ship make it, though?”

“I’ll take a look at it in the morning,” Anakin said, failing to stifle a yawn. “If we have to, we’ll just buy a new one in Socorro. Hey, could I contact Padmé once we’re there?”

Obi-Wan nodded, yawning himself even though he didn’t feel particularly tired.

Soon after, they all went to bed, Ahsoka once again taking the mattress. Anakin wrapped an arm around Obi-Wan and nuzzled the back of his neck. Obi-Wan just sighed and patted Anakin’s hand in response.

 _Thank you for talking to my mother_ , Anakin sent to him. _That must have been uncomfortable for you._

_Well, at first, yes. It wasn’t that I wanted her to like me for my own sake. I just didn’t want to become a wedge that would drive the two of you apart._

Anakin held him tighter and sent him waves of happiness and love, and for once, Obi-Wan didn’t feel overwhelmed by it.

\------

Padmé woke up feeling strange, but she quickly dismissed it as a side-effect from what Yoda did to her the day before. She had to put all of her worry and confusion about Yoda’s revelation to the back of her mind because ending the war was far more important. The committee was to meet with Mon that day since the negotiations with the Separatists were to begin the next morning.

In Mon’s office, Padmé sat between Bail and Giddean Danu, and both of them looked as tired as she felt. With the amount of work they had to do, none of them were probably getting much sleep.

“I’ve heard that there’s been some squabbling within the CIS since the Separatist Senate wasn’t aware that a Sith Lord was in charge,” Mon said at the start of the meeting. “My source told me that only the Separatist Council had known, but they weren’t aware that Sidious, as he was called, was actually Palpatine. Basically, they almost feel as betrayed as we do.”

“So does this confirm that Palpatine _was_ in fact a Sith Lord?” Bana Breemu asked.

“I would say that it does,” Mon replied.

Padmé never expected that Palpatine’s status as a Sith Lord was going to be confirmed by the Separatists. She couldn’t believe that their Council had knowingly worked with him, though. That was going to make negotiating a little more difficult, but at least their Senate had been kept in the dark. It wasn’t like they all had no issue with working with a man of pure evil.

“Are the negotiations still going ahead as planned?” Bail asked.

“Yes, so let us go over what we’ve come up with so far.”

It was going to be a long day.

\------

After Anakin had deemed their ship safe enough for the long journey to Serenno, he went in search of his mother. He wanted to spend the rest of the day with her since they were going to be leaving that night, and he had no idea when he’d see her next. Anakin found her cleaning the kitchen as she hummed to herself, the tune sounding familiar. It was probably one of the songs she used to sing to him when he had trouble falling asleep. He missed her singing.

“Would you like to help, Ani?” she asked, holding out a broom.

He smiled and took it from her.

When Obi-Wan walked by, carrying a basket of parts, he stopped and stared. “You always hated cleaning, and now you appear as though you’re _enjoying_ it.” He shook his head and turned to Shmi. “His quarters were a mess, and his room as a teenager was even worse.”

“I only kept my room that way to annoy you.” Then he laughed at Obi-Wan’s frown.

“Of course you did,” he said flatly and continued on to wherever he was going.

His mother laughed quietly to herself.

They cleaned in silence, Anakin simply enjoying being in her company, and once the kitchen was done, they moved on to one of the storage rooms. She coughed when she moved something that was covered in dust, causing Anakin to remember that she had a nasty illness some months ago.

“Mom, how has your health been lately?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Ani. I don’t get sick very often.” She opened a container and began sifting through its contents. “What will you do after the Jedi stop looking for you?”

The question surprised him since it came out of nowhere, but she knew they didn’t have much time left together. There were probably a lot of questions she wanted to ask him. They hadn’t been able to send as many messages to each other as he would have liked, so there was still a lot they didn’t know about each other’s lives. But she knew he was constantly in danger because of the war, and he could tell that she’d done her best not to worry too much. Anakin wished he had a boring life just so his mother wouldn’t have had to think that no contact for a length of time meant he could be dead.

“I don’t know, but when I used to imagine leaving the Order to start a family with Padmé, I owned a garage and fixed things for a living.” He shrugged. Fixing and building was what he loved to do, which she had known since he was old enough to walk. “I still want to free the slaves, but I have no idea how to do that. I asked about it during my first year at the Temple, and I hated the answers I got.”

She smiled at him sadly. “Worry about yourself and your family for now. There’s a small smuggling ring comprised of ex-slaves that helps escaped slaves get off Tatooine, so it’s not like there’s no hope at all.”

That did make him feel a _little_ better. Once he had the time, he would finally build that scanner he tried to make as a child before Qui-Gon showed up. It would be something.

Her eyes bright, she asked, “Do you plan on having children?”

“Someday,” he replied, smiling shyly.

“Well, at least you’ll have extra help with a third parent involved.”

“That’s true.”

Anakin didn’t say that him and Padmé hadn’t actually discussed that with Obi-Wan yet. Even though Padmé had told him that Obi-Wan’s future self was going to take on the responsibility of being a father, that was a very extreme situation. He might be completely against it in the current timeline. That was the sort of thing everyone had to agree on, and if Obi-Wan didn’t, he’d probably leave them. Anakin had to stop that train of thought before it consumed him.

“Is Padmé alright dealing with the Jedi on her own?”

“Oh, she’s more than capable of handling the Council. Personally, I think the Senate is more intimidating, and she feels right at home with them.” He helped her lift a heavy container after she was done going through the first one. He had no idea what she was looking for. “At least the war hasn’t touched Tatooine. I could see the Separatists buying slaves here since I know they’re already involved with the Zygerrian slave trade.”

He told her about the mission that took them to Zygerria, and the more he talked, the deeper her scowl got. Anakin wasn’t expecting her to get that angry. Surely, she knew that there was slavery elsewhere in the galaxy.

“I can’t believe the Jedi Council thought it was appropriate to send a former slave on such a mission. It was bad enough that they had you rescue Jabba’s son.”

Anakin blinked in surprise. So that was what had her fuming. “I did almost lose myself to anger a few times.” He rubbed the back of his neck in minor embarrassment. After she saw him almost massacre the Tusken Raiders, she made him promise to get better control over his anger. It was a lot harder than he thought it’d be.

“I can understand why,” she said sympathetically, giving his upper arm a light squeeze.

“I know Obi-Wan had nightmares for a few weeks afterwards. I don’t think it was just because he’d been a slave. He never talked about it, but Rex said that every time Obi-Wan tried to help one of the other slaves, the Zygerrians hurt that person. Eventually, he realized that it was better to just keep to himself.”

His mother went back to looking through the container. “That’s a difficult lesson to learn for someone whose life has been spent helping others.”

Anakin gave her a hopeful look. “Do you like him, Mom?”

She smiled. “I do, and the fact that you’re both taking it slow means a great deal to me. Obi-Wan is aware of his position in your relationship and how that could steer it into unhealthy territory, no matter that he sees you as his equal.”

There was no way Anakin was going to tell her that the only reason they hadn’t slept together yet was because Obi-Wan couldn’t handle Anakin’s emotions. Before he’d told his mother about him and Obi-Wan, he hadn’t actually given it much thought that Obi-Wan could have power over him due to their history together. Padmé had mentioned it after he confessed his feelings about Obi-Wan to her, but she hadn’t been worried about Obi-Wan doing anything along those lines, so the subject was dropped and never picked up again.

“I love Padmé and Obi-Wan so much,” Anakin said earnestly, “and it makes me happy that you like them both.”

She went back to her search. “It’s still very strange to me, but if it works for all of you, then who am I to judge?”

Anakin’s curiosity had finally become too much. Peering into the container, he asked, “What are you looking for?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

He didn’t like the sound of that.

Then she made a triumphant noise and pulled something out. “I knew it was in here somewhere. Talking with Ahsoka after dinner the other day reminded me about it.”

His mother activated the device, and Anakin realized that it was an old holo from when he was a kid, probably the only one in existence since their holocamera hadn’t worked for very long. Not everything could be fixed.

As the scene played out before Anakin, the memory came back to him. It was one of the few times he had been so happy that he managed to forget he was a slave. In the holo, Anakin was maybe four years old and had just repaired their cooling unit. It was the first major repair he’d ever done. When he turned it on, it actually worked, and Anakin could hear his mother cheering from behind the holocamera as he looked at her with a huge grin on his face.

His mother smiled wistfully after the image faded. “That was the moment I knew you were destined for great things.”

Anakin laughed. “Because I fixed a cooling unit?”

“Because of how smart you were at such a young age. And you had such a big heart even after seeing the true horrors of slavery. I had tried my best to shield them from you, but there was only so much I could do.”

He pulled her into a hug. “You were a great mother, and you still are. I believe that your messages helped to keep me on the right path, and I’ll forever be grateful to you for that.”

Holding onto him tightly, she asked, “Will you keep in touch while you’re on the run, or will it be too risky?”

“I’ll still send you messages, Mom. Nothing can truly keep us apart anymore. I just wish you had a better communicator that would let us actually talk to each other.”

They separated, and she patted his cheek affectionately. “Those cost too much. You know that.”

It was frustrating to have so many credits and not be able to use them. There was nothing they had that could be traded for the type of communicator she’d need.

Anakin helped her put the containers back into place, but she left the holo projector out. “I’m going to show it after dinner,” she said with a playful grin.

Anakin rolled his eyes. He could already hear Ahsoka’s cooing.

\------

The suns were about to set, so it was time to get going. Ahsoka could tell Anakin didn’t want to leave. He hadn’t seen his mother in two years, and a few days definitely didn’t make up for that. She was glad that Padmé had suggested they go to Tatooine. They needed to start off on the right foot, and Anakin needed to relax after experiencing so much stress. Well, they had all been stressed, but he handled it the worst.

“Do we have enough fuel to get to Socorro?” Ahsoka asked.

“We’ll be fine,” Anakin said. “It may look like a heap of junk on the outside, but the guts of the ship are pretty updated, so its fuel efficiency is decent. Padmé did a good job in getting us a ship.”

With the kinds of connections Padmé had, she was not someone to be messed with.

When they all met up outside, Beru presented a small package of dried meat, which Ahsoka accepted with much gratitude. Then she hugged Ahsoka, startling her, and wished them a safe journey. Next was Shmi, who also gave her a hug.

“Remember what I told you,” Shmi whispered.

Ahsoka nodded.

Owen, still a bit distant, just clasped a hand on Anakin’s shoulder and told them not to do anything dumber than escaping the Jedi Order. Anakin quirked a smile at him in reply.

When Shmi gave Obi-Wan a hug, the look on his face nearly made Ahsoka laugh. He was so hopelessly awkward. Shmi didn’t seem to like him in the beginning, maybe because she was being a little overprotective, but that obviously wasn’t true now. She whispered something to Obi-Wan, to which he nodded and said he understood.

When it was time for Shmi and Anakin to say goodbye, everyone decided to give them some privacy. Beru and Owen went back inside, and Obi-Wan suggested they get on the ship.

Ahsoka woke up Artoo. “We’re going to be leaving soon.” He let out a series of beeps, and while she still couldn’t understand Binary, she thought he sounded happy. Turning to Obi-Wan, she asked, “When do you think we’ll run into any Jedi?”

“It will probably be some time before that happens.” Sitting down in the copilot’s chair, he frowned at the floor, his eyes briefly flicking up to her. “Are you alright with the plan, Ahsoka?”

“I would have said so if I wasn’t.” She crossed her arms, trying to figure out what he was getting at. “Why?”

He slouched a bit in the chair. “You don’t have to go along with whatever we say. You’re not a Padawan anymore, so you’re free to do what you want.”

“I know that, but I don’t mind following you guys for a little while.” Ahsoka looked off to the side. “Unless you’re trying to hint that you want me gone?”

“No, that’s not the case at all,” he said hastily. “I just wanted you to be aware.”

“Anakin would take it personally if I left.”

Obi-Wan shook his head. “As long as he knew it was only temporary, he would be fine.”

She almost rolled her eyes. “Well, of course I wouldn’t just leave and never see you two again. I hope you know that you’re pretty much stuck with me for the rest of your lives.”

He gave her a tired smile. “There are _far_ worse people to be stuck with.”

Not too long after that, Anakin came on board, his eyes still looking a little wet. He sat in the pilot’s chair heavily and didn’t make a move for the controls. When Ahsoka took a peek through their bond, she could feel him trying to center himself. Eventually, he said, “Let’s go, Artoo.”

And Tatooine was behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Force-sensitive Padmé! Because the Force isn't going to send her back without giving her a little help.


	13. Chapter 13

The first break in the negotiations was much needed. Padmé was tired of trying to remain civil toward Nute Gunray, and she knew her expression had slipped a few times to reveal a deadly glare, if his reaction was anything to go by. She didn’t want to negotiate with the Trade Federation, but she knew it couldn’t be avoided.

While they’d gotten off to a rough start, the mood had begun to improve shortly before the break was called. At least a temporary ceasefire had been signed by both sides.

“Are you alright?” Bail asked her after they’d gotten refreshments. “You look a bit pale.” Then he took a step closer and whispered, “It’s not the Jedi Council, is it?”

Padmé finished gulping down her small glass of water and shook her head. “I’m fine. Yoda bothered me at my office the other day, but I told him to back off.”

Amusement shone in his eyes. “You told one of the leaders of the Jedi Order to ‘back off’?”

“What?” She smiled at him, head held high. “I’m not afraid of Yoda, and he was being exceptionally rude.”

Bail chuckled and downed his mildly alcoholic beverage. Most of the people in the room had chosen something alcoholic. They clearly needed it, and so did Padmé, if she was being honest with herself. Knowing how much of a lightweight she was, though, she had opted for water instead.

“He said he’d send Jedi to bother me every day. He sent two very young Padawans yesterday who tried to act cute to get me to talk, but they seemed a bit scared of me.” Padmé wasn’t sure why since she had been nothing but kind toward them.

“He’s probably aiming to wear you down.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” she replied with mock cheer.

About ten minutes later, they were called back into the meeting room, and Padmé did her best not to sigh. Of course she was committed to ending the war, but in that moment, she just wanted to go home and sleep. Instead, Padmé ignored her exhaustion and focused on their next topic, the deactivation of the droid army. She tried to prepare herself for the inevitable headache.

\------

When they finally arrived at Socorro, Anakin immediately noticed that the terrain surrounding the spaceport was similar to Tatooine’s, causing him to wrinkle his nose in disgust. _Great. More sand._ But at least they would be able to contact Padmé. It had been four standard days since he’d heard her voice, and while he’d once gone months without having any contact with her, he felt his patience about the matter was much thinner than it used to be. But before he could enter her frequency into the ship’s communicator, Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

“We should get our supplies first, in case something happens and we need to make a quick escape.” Anakin opened his mouth to argue, but Obi-Wan frowned at him as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Right now, supplies are more important than contacting Padmé.”

Anger flared up within him. “Do you even _care_ if she’s alright? The Council could be doing horrible things to her!”

“Stop being so dramatic, Anakin.” Obi-Wan walked past him to open the small closet that held their cloaks. “The most the Council is doing is pestering her for information, so I’m sure she’s tired more than anything. I’m being practical, which is what she would be doing in this situation herself.” He held a cloak out to Anakin, his expression softening. “It’s not that I don’t care.”

Anakin slowly calmed down and took the offered cloak while Ahsoka looked between the two of them as though she was bored.

“The market is right next to the spaceport,” Obi-Wan said as the three of them walked toward the back of the ship. “We should split up, so I’ll go alone, and you and Ahsoka will go together.”

“I can handle myself just fine,” Ahsoka said with a hint of petulance.

“I know, but Anakin has a bad habit of getting things we don’t need, so I’d like for you to watch him.”

“Hey!”

Predictably, Ahsoka just laughed.

Obi-Wan handed her a miniature datapad. “Here’s the account information so that you can take out credits from the port terminal, and there’s also a list of items that we need. I have my own list.” He hit the button to lower the ramp and pulled his hood up to the point where most of his face was cast in shadow. “Meet back here in no more than two hours. I’ll take care of the docking fee.”

Anakin and Ahsoka pulled their hoods up as well. “Guard the ship, Artoo,” Anakin said, getting an affirmative beep in response. Then they went in search of the port terminal. After they took out a safe number of credits, not that it was easy to pickpocket someone who used to be a Jedi, they went into the market to peruse the stalls.

“It’s strange to be walking around like we’re criminals, especially when we didn’t actually break any laws,” Anakin said.

Ahsoka shrugged beside him. “Technically, you could argue that the Council was planning to break the law by throwing you into a cell without a trial.”

“Yeah, I guess they couldn’t allow me to stay in my quarters for the rest of my life. But the Order operates outside the Republic, to a certain degree.”

“They should have just expelled you,” she said with no small amount of frustration. “I wonder what everyone else in the Order would have thought of the Council’s decision after they announced it.”

Anakin didn’t think any of them would care, but he knew he was being cynical. Even the Jedi who weren’t very fond of him probably would have spoken out against the decision.

Since the topic was putting both of them in a bad mood, they dropped it and focused on shopping. Their first purchase was two large satchels so that they could carry their goods, and Anakin realized just how terrible Ahsoka was at haggling. Soon after that, they found a stall with nonperishable food that seemed to cater to travelers. They had no idea how any of it tasted, but they did get some fruit from another stall that looked vaguely familiar. It seemed that knowing Huttese and Basic was enough to be able to communicate with most of the vendors.

Then something caught Anakin’s eye, a table full of shock collars, whips, and other items meant to torture or subdue. The anger hit him so suddenly that his vision wavered. He stalked over to the table, his heartbeat thudding in his ears, and the vendor mistakenly thought he was interested in buying. As the vendor started rattling off their inventory, Anakin slowly brought his hand up to do . . . he wasn’t even sure, but it didn’t matter because he was violently yanked away from the table. Anakin looked down and saw Ahsoka pulling on his arm.

“Cool. Off,” she said quietly, her eyes on those around them.

He knew they couldn’t afford to make a scene, and he felt a little embarrassed that his Padawan had to stop him from doing something stupid. _She’s not my Padawan anymore._ He wondered how long it would take to stop thinking of her as that.

Before he could apologize, she pulled him farther away from the table and said, “We need medical supplies, but I doubt we’ll find any.” She clearly just wanted to forget it had even happened.

They walked around a bit more and found a few articles of clothing, as well as some other useful items that weren’t actually on the list. Their satchels were getting heavy.

“What do you think Ben’s looking for?” she asked, using Obi-Wan’s codename.

Anakin shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a big deal if we ended up getting items that were on his list.” Then he gravitated toward a stall that was selling jewelry.

“Hey, no,” Ahsoka said firmly. “We still need to find medical supplies.”

“But that necklace would look so beautiful on her.” He would swear that he had not whined.

Ahsoka stared at him, unimpressed.

“But—”

“No!” She put the satchel on the ground and rotated her shoulder. “All that jewelry was probably stolen off dead bodies anyway. We’re in the Outer Rim, after all.”

He frowned at her. “There were people who were trying to make an honest living when I was growing up on Tatooine.” And they had been kind to him, even though he had been a poor, little slave boy. “Not everyone in the Outer Rim is trash.”

Ahsoka looked to the ground. “I’m sorry.” Then she sighed and dug out some credits. “Go buy the damn necklace.”

Grinning, Anakin took the credits and went over to the stall.

\------

Fuel was ridiculously expensive on Socorro, or maybe that was the case everywhere in the Outer Rim. While Obi-Wan waited for his companions to return, he went over his newly acquired map, which was much more detailed than the one he already had. He altered the route a bit, but the length of time it’d take to reach Serenno would depend on just how many stops they would make along the way. Obi-Wan knew they would need space from each other, what with the ship only consisting of a cockpit, a cargo hold, and a very tiny refresher. Quick stops might not cut it, so he would have to find planets on or near their route where it’d be safe to spend the night, or possibly two nights.

Finally, Anakin and Ahsoka came onboard, carrying two overstuffed satchels and a large blanket. They unloaded their goods in relief, Ahsoka immediately collapsing onto the floor.

“Why the blanket?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin set it down on top of the empty crates that had come with the ship. “For sleeping.”

Obi-Wan nodded his approval. While they could all just about sleep on anything, having some kind of cushion would be appreciated, especially for such a long journey.

“We couldn’t find any medical supplies,” Ahsoka said as she got up from the floor, “but we got everything else on the list.”

“And I got us better communicators and a better map, as well as some toiletries.”

“Do they have holoprojection capability?” Anakin asked.

“They do, and they can connect to the HoloNet as well.” Obi-Wan hadn’t wanted to rely on the ship’s communicator for making long-distance calls.

Anakin looked impressed. “So we have almost everything we’ll need. We’ll just have to make sure we don’t hurt ourselves before we make the next supply run.”

“Oh, don’t you mean we’ll have to make sure _you_ don’t hurt yourself?” Obi-Wan asked with a playful smirk.

He rolled his eyes. “I may be reckless, but it’s not like I get injured all the time.” Then he glanced toward the cockpit, his impatience travelling through their bond to become a dull pain at the base of Obi-Wan’s skull. “ _Now_ can I contact Padmé?”

Obi-Wan had barely nodded before Anakin rushed out of the cargo hold. Looking through his datapad, he found out that it was in the middle of the night for Padmé, but he doubted she would mind being woken up. He and Ahsoka went into the cockpit as Anakin nervously waited for her to pick up the call.

“Calm down, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “She’s probably sleeping.”

Sure enough, Padmé looked like she’d just woken up when the projection appeared. She smiled instantly when she saw them. _“How are you?”_

Anakin beamed back at her. “We’re fine. We’re on—”

 _“No, don’t tell me. It’s better that I don’t know where you are.”_ She shook out her hair a bit in obvious annoyance. _“Yoda’s really on my case about it.”_

Anakin narrowed his eyes and moved closer to the projection. “If he lays a hand on you—”

“Yoda wouldn’t do that.” Obi-Wan cut him off that time.

_“Yes, don’t worry. He’s only sent Padawans to bother me so far.”_

Ahsoka laughed. “I can imagine how effective that tactic is.”

Ducking down so that Padmé could see his face, Obi-Wan asked her how the negotiations had been coming along.

She sighed. _“It’ll take some time to reach an agreement, but the Separatists might actually rejoin the Republic. They’re not as adverse to the idea as I thought they’d be.”_

“What will it mean for the galaxy if they don’t?” Ahsoka asked, stepping forward.

 _“I’m not sure.”_ Padmé looked off to the side as she slouched a bit. _“It’s still early, and most of the Separatist Council members are being stubborn. Their senators are only marginally better.”_ She rubbed at her eyes and sat up straight again. _“How’s Shmi doing?”_

“She’s doing well,” Anakin replied, smiling. “She hopes to see you again sometime soon.”

Padmé smirked and looked at Obi-Wan. _“Did she give you the ‘if you hurt my son’ talk?”_

He ignored Anakin’s surprise. “Briefly. She can be quite intimidating when she wants to be.”

_“That’s how mothers are.”_

With dawning horror, Obi-Wan realized he would probably have to meet Padmé’s parents at some point, and he thought she had an older sister as well. Padmé seemed to have followed his train of thought because she laughed and told him not to worry about it since that was a long way off. Ahsoka caught on and grinned at him, while Anakin merely looked confused.

_“I’ll contact you if anything significant happens regarding the Jedi or the talks. If I can’t reach you, I’ll just assume you’re in hyperspace.”_

“Okay.” Leaning forward a bit, Anakin gave her projection an overly affectionate smile. “I love you.”

Her smile nearly matched his. _“I love you, too.”_ After she said her goodbyes to all of them, the call ended.

Immediately, Anakin turned to Obi-Wan, an eyebrow raised. “What did I miss?”

“Master Obi-Wan will have to meet her parents someday,” Ahsoka answered for him. “Have you met them?”

He nodded. “Before we got married. It was awkward, but Padmé said it was mostly because _I_ was awkward.”

“And you’re not anymore?” Obi-Wan couldn’t resist.

Anakin gave him a wry look as he stood up from the pilot’s chair. “Like you’re any better.” He patted Obi-Wan’s shoulder as he walked past him.

As they began packing their goods up in the cargo hold, an idea struck Obi-Wan. “Ahsoka, did Padmé ever tell you about Anakin’s poor attempts at flirting?”

Anakin sputtered and nearly dropped the bag of food he was holding.

Clearly amused, Ahsoka took a step closer to Obi-Wan. “She did not.”

“We should get going,” Anakin said loudly. “We can finish putting the goods away while we’re in hyperspace. Artoo, get the ship ready for take-off.”

“The goods have to be secured first, Anakin,” he said with a smile before turning back to Ahsoka. “The two of them spent some time together on Naboo before the start of the war.” Anakin sent rambling nonsense through their bond in an effort to distract him, but Obi-Wan simply put his shields up. “Apparently, he tried to compliment her by saying she was nothing like sand.”

Ahsoka burst out laughing and had to put the crate back on the floor or risk hurting herself.

Anakin turned a brilliant shade of red and looked away from them. “Well, it worked,” he mumbled. “We kissed right after.”

“Maybe she just felt sorry for you,” Ahsoka said after she calmed down.

“Oh, and there’s more,” Obi-Wan said, stacking his own crate.

Anakin nearly pouted. “So I guess Padmé makes fun of me behind my back.”

“You were in the room when she told me, but you _were_ drunk, as was Padmé, so I can understand why you wouldn’t remember. Besides, I’ve witnessed some of it myself. It was embarrassing watching you try to flirt with her after that 10 year separation. What was the line?” He looked up in thought, hand on his chin. “Ah, yes. Something about how she had grown more beautiful, for a senator. Spectacular job with that one.”

He crossed his arms, his face still red. “Well, I . . . Okay, yeah, that was painful. But I was so nervous! Give me a break with that one!”

Ahsoka looked positively gleeful, and really, they needed a good laugh, even if it was at Anakin’s expense. He knew Anakin would get back at him later to even the score, but he didn’t care. It was worth it to lighten the mood.

\------

Padmé finally decided to get checked out at the medcenter after feeling very strange for the past few days. It was probably just stress, but something—the Force?—was telling her that wasn’t the case. Even after a week, she couldn’t get used to the fact that she was mildly Force-sensitive. It was going to take her quite some time to really accept it, and it didn’t help that she had no one she could turn to about it. Padmé had wanted to tell Anakin and the others the first time they’d contacted her after leaving Tatooine, but she would rather tell them in person.

After bloodwork and multiple scans, the med droid gave her news she wasn’t expecting. “All results are normal. It is suggested that you come back regularly to make sure there are no complications with the pregnancy.”

Her stomach dropped out. _Pregnancy?_ Her mind blanked for a few seconds before she felt misery at the prospect of going through another pregnancy alone. Unlike before, she would have to keep it a secret because she couldn’t have anyone else finding out before her lovers did. Padmé would have to figure out a way to see them well before she was due. Maybe she would resign before her term was up. She couldn’t imagine the talks going on for that long.

And would being Force-sensitive make a difference this time around? The fact that she felt strange so early on made her think it would. It had to be from when she’d slept with Anakin at the Temple, which was about two weeks ago, so at least she had time to figure out what to do.

Padmé wished she’d gone to the medcenter after the talks were done for the day because she really wasn’t in the mood for dealing with another bout of pointless discussion as she tried to ignore the fact that her life was about to get a lot more complicated.

In the end, she barely participated, and she spent the short ride to her apartment in complete silence as her mind raced. It wasn’t that Padmé didn’t want children. She just felt that the timing wasn’t right. Still, it was better than before, when the war had shown no signs of ending until near the end of her pregnancy, but that was only because the Jedi were dead and Anakin had lost himself to the dark side. At least in the current timeline there was a good chance she could be with Anakin and Obi-Wan for the majority of her pregnancy.

She would make it work somehow.

\------

Ahsoka wanted to kill them both. It had only been three standard days since they left Socorro, but apparently that was too much time to spend together in such a cramped space because Anakin and Obi-Wan wouldn’t stop bickering. Ahsoka hooked their map up to the ship’s navigation computer to see their approximate location in the hyperspace lane and decided that Chalacta seemed friendly enough for a visit.

Then Anakin and Obi-Wan started to have the same argument they already had four times, and Ahsoka lost her patience. There would be no more releasing her anger and frustration into the Force. She marched back into the cargo hold and placed her hands on her hips. “Would you two knock it off already?” she yelled at them. “Are you having a contest to see how many times you can argue about the same thing before I murder you in your sleep?”

They froze, staring at her with wide eyes.

At least Anakin had the sense to look embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Ahsoka.” She was about to relax before he said, “It’s just that Obi-Wan’s really getting on my nerves.”

Obi-Wan glared at him. “Consider it payback for your teenage years then.”

“Jedi don’t believe in revenge, _Master_.”

“Well, we’re not actually Jedi anymore, are we?”

Immediately, Ahsoka called out to Artoo, who was sitting in the corner, and pointed at the two idiots. He rolled over to them and shocked them both, causing them to yelp in pain. Ahsoka crossed her arms. “Now, unless the next words out of your mouths are ‘I’m sorry,’ I’m gonna tell Artoo to shock you again.”

That time, they both looked embarrassed and muttered an apology.

Obi-Wan scrubbed at his face with his hands and groaned. “It seems that three days is too long to be cooped up together. At least when we traveled during missions, we had our own rooms.”

“Let’s come out of hyperspace and stop at Chalacta,” Ahsoka suggested. “We shouldn’t have passed it yet.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Anakin said as he eyed Artoo warily.

Later, they docked at the nearest spaceport on Chalacta and went their separate ways with the plan to meet back at the ship in an hour, but Ahsoka decided that she wasn’t going with them. It was time to part ways.

Then Ahsoka felt something odd in the Force, not quite a warning, but a whisper that she should be alert. She scanned the crowd, trying to spot anyone suspicious.

“You’re all a lot harder to track down than I thought you’d be,” a voice said from behind her.

Ahsoka went against her instinct to grab her lightsabers and whipped around to face who she had no doubt was a Jedi. It took her a few seconds to remember his name, Quinlan Vos.

Giving her an easy smile, he held his hands up. “I mean you no harm.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then what do you want?”

“Just to talk,” he replied as he put his hands down slowly.

“But you were sent by the Council, right?”

“Yes, but I can report that I lost your trail.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Everything is little chaotic in the Order right now, and I’m not happy with how it’s all being handled. Plus, me and Obi-Wan go way back.”

If she remembered correctly, the two of them had been friends since their days as Padawans. “So why not talk to Obi-Wan instead?”

Master Vos chuckled. “You’re just full of questions. I wanted to talk to you because I’m curious as to why you followed them. I understand why Obi-Wan left since he was gonna get kicked out as soon as the war ended. He’s such a hypocrite, by the way. Nagging me for bending the rules, and he’s been in a secret relationship for months. But why did _you_ leave? Did you think they would expel you?”

“No, but I had my reasons. Frankly, I don’t think it’s any of your business.” She knew she should be a little nicer, as long as he wasn’t lying about covering for them, but she wasn’t in the mood.

“Fair enough. Obi-Wan has a plan, right?”

She nodded. “And the Council has nothing to worry about. I don’t know what they’ve said about the issue, but Anakin isn’t plotting anything. He just wants to be left alone, and he has no interest in using the dark side ever again. You want to talk about hypocrites? Look at the Council. They _asked_ him to use the dark side so they could see what was in Palpatine’s holocron.”

Master Vos raised his eyebrows. That was clearly news to him. “Word had been going around the Temple that someone used the dark side, and everyone thinks it was Skywalker trying to escape. So the holocron was finally opened. What was in it?”

Ahsoka debated about whether to tell him or not. She couldn’t sense any deception from him in the Force, so it seemed like he really was on their side. And Master Plo made it sound like the holocron had caused a rift in the Council, which already seemed to be affecting the Order as a whole, what with Master Vos saying there was chaos. Maybe someone outside the Council should have an idea as to what was really going on.

“It was a journal on Palpatine’s progress with Anakin. He wanted him as his apprentice, so he’d been manipulating Anakin pretty much ever since he joined the Order. Master Plo told me that the Council was split on how to view Anakin. Will he always be a darksider, no matter what, or can he be ‘rehabilitated’?”

Master Vos suddenly took on a very serious expression and muttered what sounded like a curse under his breath. “Well, now I understand why Yoda seemed so desperate to get Skywalker back.”

“Are you still going to lie to them about finding us?”

He sighed. “Yeah. I trust Obi-Wan, and I know he wouldn’t turn his back on the Order for a darksider.” Master Vos gave her a mock salute and walked past her. “Give him my regards, would you?”

“Why don’t you do that yourself?” she asked, but he just kept walking.

Ahsoka wasn’t worried about having been found. She’d heard that Master Vos was an excellent tracker, and he had said it himself that they weren’t easy to find.

After wandering around for the remainder of the hour, Ahsoka went back to the ship with dread sitting heavy in her stomach. Maybe Anakin would understand why she wanted to go out on her own. It wouldn’t be forever. Once she’d had enough time to figure herself out, to feel comfortable with her life as a civilian and not as a Jedi, she’d go to wherever they ended up. By that point, they’d probably be with Padmé on Naboo. Ahsoka hadn’t been there since the Blue Shadow Virus crisis, and she hadn’t really been able to appreciate Naboo for its beauty at the time.

Apparently, she’d boarded a little too quietly because Obi-Wan didn’t immediately push Anakin away, which meant she had to clear her throat to get them to stop kissing. At least they were on good terms again. Obi-Wan began fake coughing and picked up his datapad as if he hadn’t just had his tongue in Anakin’s mouth. Not that she wasn’t happy for them, but watching people kiss, like _really_ go at it, grossed her out. Plus, it reminded her that the only time she’d ever been kissed was by Lux, and he’d forced it on her. She still berated herself for ever having feelings for that sleemo.

“H-hey, Snips,” Anakin said, face a little pink.

Ignoring him, she turned to Obi-Wan. “Quinlan Vos says ‘hi.’” Both of them looked at her in alarm, but she shook her head. “Don’t worry. He’s not going to tell the Council he found us.”

Obi-Wan grabbed the back of Anakin’s tunic when he made for the ramp. “As infuriating as Quinlan can be, he’s an old friend, and we can trust him.”

“I’ve decided to go off on my own,” Ahsoka blurted out. There was no way she could ease into it. Anakin looked like he just got punched in the gut, so she said, “Only for a little while.”

He took a step toward her. “If this is because Vos tracked us down—”

“It’s not. I need to figure out who I am without the Order, and I can’t do that when I’m with you two.” She reached behind her head and pulled her Padawan braid free. Then she took Anakin’s hand and coiled the braid into his palm before closing his fingers over it. “I promise to stay in contact.”

Smiling a bit, Obi-Wan walked over to them. “I understand and respect your decision, Ahsoka.”

“No!” Anakin shot backwards, his hand clenching her Padawan braid. “You can’t leave! You’re like my— We’re _family_! We can’t split up!”

She was afraid he’d have such a reaction. “Anakin, it’s not like you’ll never see me again.”

“Where will you even go?”

“Onderon isn’t too far from here,” she said, a corner of her mouth tugged upwards. “I’ll just hitch a ride or two.”

Anakin instantly calmed down and gave her a knowing smile, which had Obi-Wan looking back and forth between them. Anakin would probably fill him in later. He walked up to her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. It was only the second time he’d ever hugged her, but he’d been almost hesitant in his affection the first time, despite him rushing over to her as soon as she’d regained consciousness. It had been more an action done out of relief. But now, he didn’t bother holding back, and a pleasant warmth traveled across their bond.

Ahsoka didn’t hold anything back either, letting her emotions flow out to him, and she heard something pop when she squeezed him extra hard. “What was that?” she asked as she pulled away.

He laughed. “My spine. That actually felt pretty good. Now I know why Obi-Wan doesn’t complain when I do that.” Anakin looked down at the silka beads in his hand. “If you ever need anything . . . ”

“I’ll let you know, but I’ll be fine, Anakin. If I can handle Trandoshan game hunters and Death Watch, I think I can handle just about anything.”

He nodded, pride shining in his eyes.

Then she turned to Obi-Wan, who bowed to her in proper Jedi fashion. Ahsoka thought about returning the bow, but neither of them were Jedi anymore, so she wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug, surprised that he only tensed up a little. “Sorry for leaving you to deal with his messes on your own,” she whispered before she let him go.

“Oh, I’m very used to it, believe me,” he replied with a chuckle.

After she took a few items for her journey, and said goodbye to Artoo, they walked her down to the end of the ramp.

“May the Force be with you, Ahsoka,” Anakin said.

She smiled at them. “And with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t worry, everyone will be together again eventually. Certain events just have to happen first.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the minor delay. This has been a rough week, so editing took longer than usual.

Despite having only gotten up a few hours ago, Padmé just wanted to go to bed. A treaty had finally been drafted the night before, but it would be at least a few more days before they could declare the war as officially over since revisions would have to be made. She doubted that both Senates would approve the treaty on the first vote.

The Separatists agreed to rejoin with the Republic on the condition that their initial concerns were to be addressed and that the corruption was to be seriously tackled. After finding out that a Sith Lord had managed to make it to the top, no one could say that corruption wasn’t a huge issue. The Republic was much more broken that Padmé had ever thought, and not even Palpatine was to blame for most of it. The corruption had existed years before he became Chancellor. A major overhaul of the government was needed, and that was going to be painful for everyone involved. They couldn’t risk another Palpatine, Sith Lord or not, gaining power.

The vote wasn’t to happen until later in the day, after everyone had been given enough time to look over all aspects of the treaty, so Padmé went to her office that morning, trying not to drag her feet. It turned out someone was waiting for her, but instead of yet another Jedi, it was Fohaan.

“Inspector, I’m surprised to see you,” Padmé said as she gestured for Fohaan to sit back down. “The investigation has been over for some time now.”

“I’m not here on official business.” For whatever reason, she had trouble meeting Padmé’s eyes. “I wanted to know what happened to Skywalker after he was cleared.”

That was unexpected. She wasn’t sure what to tell her. “May I ask why?”

“I want to know if the Jedi are ruled by fear.”

There was something about her posture and the look on her face, like a wife who was waiting to hear terrible news about her partner, that made Padmé decide to tell her the truth. “Anakin was broken out of the Temple by Obi-Wan and Anakin’s apprentice about two weeks ago. The Grand Master of the High Council has been sending Jedi to my office every day because he thinks I know where they are.”

That caused Fohaan to sit up straight, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. “The Jedi have been harassing you?”

Padmé shrugged. “It’s usually children.”

“But the point stands that the leader of the High Council is sending people to harass a senator on a daily basis.” Now she was acting more like the inspector Padmé was familiar with.

“Well, when you put it that way, it does sound quite bad.”

“It sounds illegal.” She looked to the side, frowning. “I know that the Jedi operate under their own laws, but they’re still a part of the Republic, and when someone from outside the Order is involved, the Security Force can intervene.” Fohaan looked back at Padmé with determination, her hands balled into fists in her lap. “You should formally report them.”

“Then it will get out that Anakin is no longer on Coruscant.”

“Does that matter? The charges against him were dropped. You could say that Skywalker resigned from the Order because he wanted to live with you as husband and wife, but the Jedi weren’t going to allow that, so he fled.”

Padmé knew Fohaan just wanted to help, but the situation was under control for the moment. “The Jedi don’t actually stop anyone from leaving the Order, so they would say that as their defense. I don’t want it to get out that Anakin used the dark side, even though most people wouldn’t truly understand what that means. I appreciate your concern, but I really don’t want to draw attention to myself in that way. Soon after the negotiations are over, I’m planning on returning to Naboo, and Yoda won’t send Jedi there . . . most likely.”

Fohaan’s shoulders slumped.

Padmé leaned forward, confused. “Are you alright?”

She was quiet for a moment, her eyes looking a bit glassy. “I have a little sister who is Force-sensitive,” she admitted in a voice so soft that Padmé had to strain to hear her. “She was given to the Jedi a few weeks after her birth, and I haven’t seen her since. That was 12 years ago. I don’t even know if my sister is still alive since all contact is forbidden. When you told me what the Jedi are really like, I’ve been worried about her. She’s too young to have been fighting in the war, but what if she’s been turned into an unfeeling shell of a person?”

Actually, there was a chance her sister had been thrown into the war. After all, Ahsoka was only 14 when she fought her first battle. She wondered if Fohaan wanted to question Anakin just so she could get inside the Temple to see where her sister lived. “I’m sorry— May I ask what your given name is?”

“It’s Jemuna.”

Padmé smiled. “I’m sorry, Jemuna. Try not to worry too much. The Order isn’t a prison, and I know there are Jedi who turn out just fine. Plus, now that they know the truth about what was really going on with Palpatine and the war, I think change is on the horizon.”

Jemuna sighed and took a minute to compose herself before she stood. “Thank you, Senator. If your situation escalates, please let me know.”

Sensing that they were to be back in their official roles, she didn’t bother saying she could call her by her name. “Of course, Inspector.”

\------

After four days of relatively easy travel, Ahsoka finally landed on Onderon. From what she could see, the citizens seemed to be doing well. At least the undercurrent of fear was long gone. She wasn’t sure how to find the rebels, but she supposed they weren’t actually rebels anymore. Surprisingly, someone recognized her as the Jedi who helped them during the uprising and was able to point her in the right direction. It only took about an hour to find where Steela was living, but Ahsoka hesitated at her door. What was she going to say? What was she even _doing_ there? But Ahsoka shoved her doubts aside and pushed the buzzer.

 _“Yes?”_ Steela said through the intercom.

“Hey, it’s . . . it’s Ahsoka. I don’t know if you remember me—”

_“Ahsoka! Wait right there!”_

Less than a minute later, the door opened, and Steela rushed forward to pull Ahsoka into a hug. Ahsoka was so caught off guard that she merely froze at the contact. It wasn’t that she minded hugs, but it certainly wasn’t the welcome she was expecting.

“I’m sorry,” Steela said as she let her go. “I just didn’t think I’d ever see you again since the Jedi aren’t needed here anymore.”

“I’m not a Jedi,” Ahsoka blurted out. _Wow, real smooth._ “I mean, I left the Order.”

Steela’s eyes widened, and she moved to the side to let Ahsoka in. “What happened? Last I heard, the talks were still ongoing.”

Ahsoka shook her head. “It has nothing to do with the war.” When Steela brought her to the living space, Ahsoka sat down on the couch and explained what she could, meaning she left out the bits about the dark side and Palpatine being a manipulative creep. “I just need some time away from those connected to my old life so that I can figure out how to start my new one. I was in the area, so . . . ” She shrugged. “Is there a place I could stay for a little while? An inn, maybe?”

Steela gave her a strange look. “After what you did to help us, there’s no way I’d make you stay at an inn. And don’t worry about my brother. He won’t mind.”

Ahsoka smiled at her, grateful. She didn’t even care about the amount of teasing she’d get from Anakin when he found out.

\------

Anakin was tired of hyperspace. He could only do maintenance on Artoo so many times, so he decided to record a message for his mother, which he would send once they entered realspace. Anakin felt a little guilty for not having sent one yet, but there really wasn’t much to say. Still, she’d like to know that he was alright.

Going into the cargo hold to get his communicator, he took a quick look at Obi-Wan, who was still meditating. It had been a few hours already. Anakin never understood how Obi-Wan could keep his focus for that long. So as not to disturb him, he went back into the cockpit.

“Hi, Mom. I’m sorry that I haven’t sent anything sooner. Nothing exciting has happened, and we’re in hyperspace most of the time. So we’re all fine. Well, Ahsoka left to go out on her own. I worry about her, even though I know I have no reason to. I guess I’m just overprotective. Me and Obi-Wan were at each other’s throats for a couple days because we’re not used to spending so much time together in such cramped conditions, but we got over it. Oh! We were found by a Jedi, but he’s a friend of Obi-Wan’s, so he said he wouldn’t tell the Council. I’m not sure why he bothered to track us if he was only going to let us go.” Anakin didn’t know what else to say. “I hope you’re doing well. I love you very much, and I’ll send another message once we reach our destination.”

He saved the recording and just sat in the pilot’s chair. After a few minutes, Artoo rolled up and gave him a nudge, asking when they’d land somewhere again. And if they told him to stay on the ship, he’d start screaming. Laughing, Anakin patted Artoo’s dome. “I hope it won’t be too much longer, but whether you can come with us or not depends on the planet.” Then Artoo began cursing Obi-Wan, saying he was to blame for always being stuck on the ship. Obi-Wan didn’t even want to bring him in the first place. “Hey, now. Be nice. I think he was just really stressed about the whole thing and wanted to keep the escape as simple as possible.” Artoo still seemed annoyed.

Giving him one last pat, Anakin got up and went into the cargo hold. There was nothing to do except wait for Obi-Wan to come out of his mediation. Sitting in front of him, Anakin studied his face and wondered why he didn’t look relaxed. Regardless of his emotional state, Obi-Wan usually looked peaceful when he meditated. Anakin had been told that he himself never did, but he thought that was because he just wasn’t very good at meditation.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan’s face twitched into a frown before going neutral. He really did have a beautiful face. Anakin had no idea how he managed to be so lucky to have two stunning people as lovers. He could stare at them both for hours. Their eyes alone were so expressive. What did Obi-Wan look like when he orgasmed?

 _Kriff, where did_ that _come from?_

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and opened his eyes, immediately sighing. He’d been doing a lot of that lately. “You know I don’t like it when you watch me meditate.”

Anakin flashed him a smile. “I’m bored.”

“And watching me is so fascinating?”

He shrugged. “I could have eaten instead, but we should ration what we have left. I say we get some more supplies at our next stop.”

“I agree.”

Then the thought from before came back, and Anakin slammed his mental shields up, but he couldn’t stop imagining it. What was _wrong_ with him? They’d been cooped up together for too long with very little to do. That had to be it. Obi-Wan tilted his head in confusion, and he looked so adorable that Anakin tried to subtly plant his hands on the floor to keep from reaching out to him.

“Are you alright?” Of course he noticed anyway.

Anakin nodded, swallowing hard. He didn’t trust himself to not say something embarrassing if he opened his mouth.

Obi-Wan didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “It’s almost been a week since Ahsoka left. Is that what’s bothering you?”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, but his voice was pitched too high.

“Then why are your shields up?” He rubbed his eyes in barely concealed frustration. “I don’t want to repeat my past mistakes and ignore your problems.”

Why did Obi-Wan have to choose that particular moment to try to be a better friend? Looking off to the side, Anakin said, “I really am fine. My mind just wandered earlier because I was bored.” He could feel his face getting hot.

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything for what felt like hours, and when Anakin finally looked back at him, he could tell that he’d figured it out. Well, he couldn’t know _exactly_ what Anakin had been thinking. Obi-Wan let out a soft “oh” and stared at the wall behind Anakin as if he’d found something interesting there. An awkward minute passed before Obi-Wan said, “We really should land somewhere before we start snapping at each other again. And we could purchase more food.” He moved to get up, but then he stopped and sat back down.

Anakin was about to ask what was wrong when Obi-Wan surged forward and kissed him. It was still rare that Obi-Wan initiated a kiss, so Anakin was thrilled, and when he finally lowered his shields, he was hit with a strong wave of desire. Anakin broke the kiss, gasping.

Obi-Wan had the same hungry look in his eyes that Padmé always had when she was in the mood. “Anakin, I—”

Loud beeping interrupted him as Artoo rolled in from the cockpit to announce that they were going to be leaving hyperspace soon. Then he simply rolled back, completely oblivious, unless he had known exactly what he was doing. He was probably getting back at Anakin for neglecting him for so long and getting back at Obi-Wan for wanting to leave him behind.

They stared at each other for a moment before they both grinned.

Anakin gave him a quick kiss. “Yeah, we should stop somewhere, maybe spend the night?” He waggled his eyebrows, and Obi-Wan laughed. It was one of Anakin’s favorite things to do, make Obi-Wan and Padmé laugh. “What planets are nearby?”

Unexpectedly, Obi-Wan tensed up a bit. “I put in the coordinates that would take us the closest to Mandalore along this hyperspace lane, but I hadn’t decided if I actually wanted to go there or not. I thought I should leave it up to you.”

Anakin didn’t understand why it should be his decision, but when Obi-Wan gave him a pointed look, Anakin rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t get jealous. I mean, it’s not like you still love Satine.”

“But I do,” he said with a mildly shocked expression, as though he’d only just realized that.

Anakin’s breath caught in his throat. What if, upon seeing her again, Obi-Wan decided Anakin wasn’t worth the trouble? What if he suddenly felt that having a relationship with two people really was more than he could handle, and he abandoned both of them for Satine?

Obi-Wan held up a hand, probably sensing Anakin’s rising panic. “I should clarify. I will always love Satine, but I’m no longer _in_ love with her.”

“I . . . think I understand.”

So Obi-Wan loved her like she was a dear friend? He had a feeling that the way he and Obi-Wan viewed love was a bit different, but he didn’t feel like discussing it.

It was going to take a few hours to reach Mandalore, so they decided to get some sleep in the meantime. To Anakin’s great surprise, Obi-Wan wrapped an arm around his waist unprompted and without comment. He was an idiot for fearing that Obi-Wan would leave him, especially after everything they’d been through together.

They didn’t sleep for too long, but it was enough that Anakin felt refreshed afterwards. Obi-Wan decided to see what he could find out about the current political climate on Mandalore, but it seemed to be mostly peaceful. The end of the war being in sight probably helped. Even though Mandalore was neutral in the conflict, that didn’t mean they weren’t affected by it.

“Hey, was Satine filled in on the truth about your ‘death’?” Anakin asked. “She was pretty upset at your funeral.” As far as he knew, only Padmé, Ahsoka, and himself had been told against the Council's wishes.

“I had Padmé tell her in private before the funeral.” He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “However, I still got an earful because she thought I was dead for the entire trip to Coruscant.”

Then he hadn’t handled that situation as well as Anakin had thought. “Um, are we going to tell her _why_ we’re on Mandalore and not in Jedi attire?”

“Only if she asks, and let me do the talking.”

Once they were out of hyperspace, Anakin sent the message he’d recorded to his mother, and Obi-Wan had taken advantage of the distraction to sit in the pilot’s chair, but Anakin didn’t actually mind. While he loved to fly, constantly fighting over who would take control of the ship was getting tiresome.

It wasn’t too much longer before they reached the capital city. Anakin really hoped it wasn’t a mistake in going there. He hadn’t actually spent much time on the planet, and he barely knew Satine. Anakin wondered if Obi-Wan really would tell her they were together. It was true that he wasn’t jealous of her, but what if she was jealous of _him_? There was a chance she still hadn’t gotten over Obi-Wan.

After they docked, Obi-Wan requested an audience with Satine, but it took over an hour for palace guards to retrieve them. Anakin could sense Obi-Wan’s nervousness, which in turn was making him nervous. He wasn’t even sure what Obi-Wan was nervous about. They were taken to her residence and told to wait in what looked like the living space. Judging by the casual nature of it all, Anakin was afraid that she hadn’t been informed that she was meeting with _both_ of them, but when she came to greet them a few minutes later, she wasn’t surprised by Anakin’s presence.

“It’s good to see that both of you are well,” she said kindly. It was strange to not see her wearing her intricate headdress.

“And you,” Obi-Wan replied, bowing.

She was the leader of a planet, and Anakin almost forgot to bow. Padmé would be disappointed in him.

“I’ve been keeping up with the news,” Satine remarked after they all sat down. “I’m glad that a treaty has been drafted, but I’m sure it will take some time before it’s finalized. I don’t know if you saw that neither side agreed to the terms.”

“Oh, I hadn’t realized the vote had taken place already,” Obi-Wan said.

She nodded and gestured for a servant to come over. “Yes, a short time ago. Would either of you like something to drink?”

Anakin followed Obi-Wan’s lead and asked for water, even though he could really use some alcohol.

“How have you been?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I’ve been alright. It was quite tense here for a while, but after the truth came out about Chancellor Palpatine, there was a collective sigh of relief amongst the neutral systems.”

“Why?” Anakin asked, slightly annoyed.

“Because we all made the right choice in staying out of the war, which was clearly just a power grab for the Chancellor.” Satine regarded him with something close to admiration. “I read the official investigation’s report after it was made public. I thank you for taking care of that dreadful man.”

He couldn’t help but look away from her. Palpatine would be a sore topic for him for a long time, and he hated that he still wanted to defend him even after knowing the truth. Obi-Wan must have sensed his discomfort because he expertly changed the subject, and for a man who claimed to dislike politics, he sure could talk about it at length.

Anakin tuned them out. He wondered if the war would be declared as over by the time they reached Serenno. It seemed entirely possible, but he’d have to contact Padmé and ask her for her insider’s opinion. Oh, how he missed her. Anakin would do anything just to hear her voice. He also missed Ahsoka, but he figured he should wait for her to contact them. She wanted space, so he should respect that.

When Anakin felt Obi-Wan’s anxiety come back stronger than before, he was drawn back into the conversation. Obi-Wan glanced at him, and he realized that Satine must have finally asked what they were doing on Mandalore.

Before Obi-Wan spoke, he glanced around the room, obviously making sure they were alone. “We’re not here on Jedi business because we’re no longer Jedi,” he said reluctantly.

She stared at them, dumbfounded.

“We left the Order, Ahsoka as well, but she went to Onderon to visit a . . . friend.”

Anakin was laughing on the inside at that. He’d explained to Obi-Wan why he had calmed down so quickly when Ahsoka told them she was going to Onderon, and he hoped Ahsoka wouldn’t kill him for revealing her crush.

Eventually, Satine got over her shock and put her glass down on the table in front of them. “Why? What happened?”

“I’m not even sure where to start, but to put it bluntly, the Jedi Order has fallen to such a point that we could no longer stay. Both Anakin and I had broken certain rules, so I was going to be expelled after the war was officially over, and Anakin . . . ”

Even though Obi-Wan had stated that he wanted to do the talking, Anakin decided to step in. “I killed Palpatine while using the dark side of the Force, so the Council wanted to lock me up for the rest of my life. The Jedi have been trying to find us ever since we left Coruscant.”

Obi-Wan thanked him through their bond.

After a moment, Satine said, “While I don’t actually understand much about the Force, using the dark side once to get rid of a vile enemy shouldn’t land you in prison for life. That’s a rather extreme reaction, in my opinion.”

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Anakin said and then promptly kicked himself. It almost sounded like he was _defending_ the Council.

“And, Obi-Wan, why were you going to be _expelled_?”

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. “The Code forbids attachments, as you already know, yet I’ve been in a relationship for some time.”

She sat up even straighter as her eyes widened. “Well, that’s . . . unexpected. With whom?”

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin, so Satine looked at him as well. He gave her a slightly nervous smile.

Satine looked back at Obi-Wan and said dryly, “He’s a bit young, isn’t he?”

Anakin sighed, his shoulders drooping. He already had to deal with that from his mother, so he didn’t need Obi-Wan’s old lover judging them.

Obi-Wan smiled at her fondly. “While it didn’t work out between us, Satine, you will always be dear to me.”

Anakin was shocked that he actually said that, but maybe he was just trying to appease her. Satine looked even more surprised. Oddly enough, Anakin couldn’t actually sense anything from her, almost as if she had some kind of shielding in place. He wondered if Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had taught her that in the year they were acting as her protectors.

Without warning, she leveled a glare at Anakin, and he was impressed by its intensity. “If you harm him in any way, I will return the favor a hundredfold.”

He leaned back, holding his hands up defensively, while Obi-Wan merely chuckled. But Anakin realized that Obi-Wan deserved to have someone who would threaten on behalf of his happiness. Relaxing a little, he looked her in the eye and declared, “I would sooner cut off my other arm than do anything to hurt him.”

“And what about Padmé?” she asked icily.

Right, that was public knowledge. Anakin still wasn’t used to that.

“Actually, the three of us are together,” Obi-Wan intervened. Then he turned to Anakin. “What did she say it’s called, a triad?”

Anakin shrugged.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Satine nodded approvingly. “Padmé is a fine woman. How long will you be on the run for?”

“That depends on just how much Yoda wants Anakin’s head, figuratively speaking.”

Anakin didn’t think it was so figurative at that point, but he kept that to himself. Instead, he reached for his glass of water, suddenly very thirsty.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay for however long you want.”

“Thank you. While being together for long periods of time on such a small ship with nothing to do is very trying, a day should suffice.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You can’t find anything to do?”

Anakin choked on his water, and Obi-Wan patted him on the back. He couldn’t believe the Duchess of Mandalore, and Obi-Wan’s former lover, had basically just asked why they weren’t having sex all the time.

Then Obi-Wan said something in Mando’a, but that wasn’t one of the languages Anakin knew. Whatever he said, Satine looked shocked and said something back in Mando’a. Anakin had a nagging feeling they were talking about him, but even if they weren’t, he hated being left out. He sent his annoyance through their bond, and Obi-Wan finally looked at him.

“My apologies, Anakin.”

“Yes, that was quite rude of us.” She coughed into her hand, but Anakin could still see the smile she was attempting to hide. “I’ll have a room set up for you, or two rooms, if you _really_ need the space.”

“No, one room will be fine, thank you,” Obi-Wan said before standing. “I don’t want to take up any more of your time.”

Anakin quickly stood as well, thankful that the conversation was going to end.

“I insist that the two of you have dinner with me.” She elegantly rose to her feet and gave them a smirk. “It seems there is much for me to catch up on.”

Obi-Wan smiled and bowed as she walked away, with Anakin bowing a beat too late yet again.

 _What just happened?_ he asked Obi-Wan.

_I’ll tell you later._

\------

The vote had went as Padmé thought it would, but she was surprised by how many on their side had voted in favor of the treaty. Maybe they would only need to have one set of revisions.

The talks weren’t to resume until the following morning, so she thought she’d try to get some regular work done. She felt like she’d been neglecting her duties as a senator of Naboo. But of course, after only five minutes, Threepio came in to announce yet another Jedi. She had told him that he didn’t need to ask for her permission, so he decided to give her a heads up instead. She was expecting a Padawan, since Yoda had only sent one Knight so far, but the person who walked through the door was definitely not a Padawan.

“Hello, Senator,” Mace Windu greeted politely.

“Master Windu. This is a surprise.”

He sat in front of her desk and stared at it in silence. Padmé watched him for a moment before shrugging and going back to work. It was an odd strategy, but maybe they were running out of ideas. She wondered when they would finally give up on her.

“The Force is telling me that the Order has been on the wrong path for years,” Mace said abruptly, still keeping his eyes on her desk. “We’ve been dragged down by the Sith for too long. I’m just trying to figure out how to get us back on the right path.” Then he looked at her, and he almost seemed contrite. “I admit that I never fully trusted Anakin, but seeing what was on that holocron made me realize that Palpatine didn’t _want_ me and the others to trust him. I’ve been unwittingly playing the part that was assigned to me.” Mace pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back in the chair. It seemed like he wasn’t getting any more sleep than she was. “If it can be arranged, I would like to speak with Anakin, and this is not something that Yoda would be made aware of.”

Something was telling her that he was being truthful about keeping Yoda out of it. “I’ll ask him, but I don’t even know where he is right now. They’re always on the move, and I told them to keep me in the dark about their location at all times.”

Mace nodded and handed her a piece of flimsi. “This is my private frequency. It doesn’t have to be right away.” Then he hesitated before saying, “Yoda wants to keep the search going, but we’ve already looked on Naboo.”

Was he giving her a hint? Narrowing her eyes, she asked, “Whose side are you on, Master Windu?”

“I don’t know yet. That’s why I’d like to talk to Anakin.” Then Mace stood and bowed. “Thank you for your time, Senator.” And with that, he left.

Padmé stared at the empty chair in amazement. Perhaps there really would be change within the Order.

\------

Ahsoka looked out across the city from the roof. She was happy to see that there was peace, that the Separatists had given up on them. It calmed her to know that some planets touched by the war could bounce back, that they weren’t all completely ravaged.

Luckily, she hadn’t run into Lux. Steela said that she hadn’t seen him a while, but she thought he might be trying to get into politics. Ahsoka had no plans on telling her what he’d done, thinking it was a good idea to work with Death Watch and forcing her to take part. It wasn’t worth it, especially since it seemed like they were now mere acquaintances rather than friends.

Then her old comlink went off. She still kept it on her since Barriss and Padmé didn’t have her new frequency yet.

_“Hello, Ahsoka.”_

“Hey, Barriss. How are you?”

_“I’m fine, but the atmosphere in the Temple is quite different now.”_

“Really?” She had been curious as to what happened after they left.

 _“Some are pushing for change, and I’ve somehow become the leader of the movement amongst the Padawans. Ahsoka, the Order is in turmoil.”_ She almost sounded panicked. _“The Council can’t agree on anything. But once the breaking point is reached, I think everything will start to calm down. It can’t go on like this forever.”_

Ahsoka was shocked that the holocron sparked something akin to a revolution within the Order. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

 _“Not at the moment. Just stay far away from Coruscant. . . . Skywalker is with you, isn’t he?”_ Barriss asked quietly.

“The Council told everyone that he’s gone?”

_“No, it’s just a feeling.”_

She sighed. “Me and Obi-Wan broke him out the day I told you I was leaving the Order, but I went off on my own a little while ago.”

_“Well, the official word is that Skywalker is staying in his quarters as usual, and the Council sent you and Master Kenobi on a mission to help those worst affected by the fighting.”_

Ahsoka was wondering how they would explain her absence. “You’ll contact me if anything significant happens, right?”

_“Of course.”_

She hoped that the Council would listen to those who wanted change, that they would actually take their concerns seriously. At least she knew Master Plo would, but he could only do so much. Even if Yoda continued to be his stubborn self, if Master Windu could be convinced, then there was a chance that the Order could become what it had once been.

\------

Their room was far too opulent, but Obi-Wan thought Satine did that on purpose. She did like to make fun of his love of “everything plain,” as she put it.

Anakin seemed to like it, though. He flung himself into an overstuffed chair and grinned. “So what were you talking about in Mando’a?”

Obi-Wan sat in the chair next to his and was startled by how much he sank into it. “I told her that we were taking it slow, and then she asked how long we’ve been together. She thinks I’m being much too Jedi-like and should just . . . ” Obi-Wan gave him a wry smile. “Well, she said something vulgar that I’m not going to repeat.”

Anakin chuckled. “She got over you rather quickly.”

“We got over each other ages ago, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still care about one another.”

He regarded Obi-Wan strangely. “Was she your first?”

“My first what?”

Anakin stared at him, eyebrows raised, as he leaned back into the chair.

“Oh, no, we never slept together.” For once, he wasn’t embarrassed about such a topic, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Maybe he was just past the point of caring.

“You didn’t? Really?”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “It wasn’t that we didn’t want to. There just hadn’t been any time, and Qui-Gon was always nearby.” Anakin was giving him another strange look, but Obi-Wan guessed as to what his train of thought was. “I have had sex before. I was once a hormonal teenager, you know. Besides, it’s good for stress-relief.”

Unexpectedly, Anakin laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m not making fun, I swear.” He sat up straight, eyes bright. “I just never really looked at it that way. To me, there’s always some sort of emotional element, so I don’t think I could ever sleep with someone I don’t love.”

Obi-Wan was taken aback by that. “So Padmé was your first then.”

“Yeah, and I was pretty horrible at it in the beginning, so I was glad it was with her. She didn’t judge me at all.”

After a few minutes of silence, Obi-Wan thought it would be a good time to have a proper talk about the subject. He didn’t actually _want_ to talk about it, but they really did need to get better at communicating with each other. “I apologize for making you wait so long.”

Anakin shook his head and reached out to give Obi-Wan’s shoulder a squeeze. “You have nothing to apologize for. I understand. Besides, I’ve enjoyed the cuddling very much.”

Obi-Wan huffed out a laugh. Anakin had been taking advantage of how small the blanket was on their ship, so he’d been getting a lot of cuddling time.

“It took me a while to figure it out, but Padmé had told me I can get very intense, and she’s not even Force-sensitive.” His words came out in a rush, making Obi-Wan wonder just how long he’d been keeping them in. “I know how difficult all of this is for you. That’s why I wanted to have those little talks about where your boundaries are. I’m not good with reading body language, so I need you to tell me when it gets to be too much.” He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “I probably should have told you that months ago.”

Obi-Wan was stunned that Anakin had put so much thought into it, but he supposed he shouldn’t be. Anakin was so afraid of pushing him away that he felt he had to. Obi-Wan didn’t doubt that Anakin went to Padmé for advice.

He just wished he’d known earlier that sex for Anakin meant something very different to him. It was about more than physical pleasure, it was about connecting to someone he loved. Obi-Wan should have been able to figure that out based on how Anakin’s emotions ran wild the few times they’d tried, but he was painfully aware of how he was never very good at understanding Anakin when it truly counted.

“I don’t know where you’re at now,” Anakin said quietly, “but I’m _very_ uncomfortable doing anything when Satine’s in the same building.”

“I agree, but I’d like to try when our environment is more . . . appropriate.”

Anakin looked down and smiled.

It was subdued, almost shy, and while Obi-Wan loved seeing his wide grin that made the corners of his eyes crinkle, he loved this smile even more. He was actually tempted to reach over and pull Anakin out of the chair and onto him. Obi-Wan immediately shook his head, trying to get rid of the image of Anakin squirming and gasping in his lap.

Anakin coughed beside him, face going a bit pink. “I think you should have dinner with Satine alone. I’ll just end up feeling like the third wheel if I go. Or would that be seen as an insult?”

Yes, good. He needed a distraction. “I don’t believe so. I’ll just tell her that you’re being considerate and allowing us some time to catch up properly.”

A little while later, Obi-Wan was directed to the dining room. Satine was already seated at the table, and the fact that she had changed her outfit made him think of Padmé. He was surprised by how much he missed her.

“Skywalker won’t be joining us?”

Obi-Wan smiled as he took his seat across from her. “He thought we’d like some time alone together.”

She smirked. “So he feels awkward since he knows our past.”

“Well . . . yes.” There was no point in denying it.

“I still can’t believe you actually left the Order,” she said while taking a sampling of all the food before them.

Obi-Wan noticed that most of the different types of food were his favorites. He was touched that she remembered after all that time. “I wasn’t lying when I said I would have left for you.” He took a bite of the tender meat and had to hold back a groan at the flavor. After weeks of nearly tasteless dried food, he was in paradise.

“But you were much younger then. It must mean something entirely different to have left now.” She stared at Obi-Wan, glass poised in front of her lips. “You must really love him.”

He hesitated. It was slowly getting easier to admit it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still have his issues. “I do. But enough about all that. How are you, Satine, truly?”

“I’m doing well, for the most part.” She took a sip from her glass. “I’m trying to weed out the corruption, but it’s a slow process, and Death Watch is still a thorn in my side. They attacked the capital a few weeks ago, but since they blew up a school in the ensuing battle, the people have mostly turned on them.” Satine’s gaze lowered to the table, her hand clenching her fork in a tight fist. “So many children died,” she whispered.

Obi-Wan had read about that, but before he could offer his condolences, she moved on to another topic.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like on Coruscant right now, though. Finding out the Supreme Chancellor was actually a traitor? I wonder how many knew the truth.”

“I don’t think that many did, but Palpatine does still have supporters.”

“Well, it’s come out that the Separatist Council knew they were working for a Sith Lord, but no one else did, so there’s quite a bit of anger amongst the Separatist systems.”

“I’ve been trying to keep up with the news on the HoloNet, but it’s difficult with all the hyperspace travel we’ve been doing.” He had no idea what was in his glass, but when he took a swig, he was happy to taste alcohol. At their last stop, Obi-Wan had almost bought some alcohol because he could really use it, but then he realized that getting drunk with Anakin on their tiny ship with nothing to do was _not_ a good idea. “I’m surprised that the Separatists are willing to rejoin the Republic.”

Satine nodded. “I am as well. I wouldn’t want to be a senator right now. I’m sure Padmé must be exhausted.”

Obi-Wan wondered if Satine was trying to steer the conversation toward Padmé because she was curious as to their arrangement. “The few times we’ve spoken with her, she did seem rather worn down.”

After they ate in amiable silence for a bit, Satine put her fork down and leaned forward. “So how did you end up in a relationship with _two_ people?”

He shrugged. “Anakin was pushing us together, though I’m still not sure why. I would have thought he’d be jealous that Padmé and I would have any kind of relationship beyond that of friendship.” Since they’d been opening up to each other lately, it was the perfect time to ask, but he kept forgetting.

“And she had no problem with her husband seeing another person?”

“Padmé claims to have known how Anakin felt about me before he even figured it out himself, and she knew that he would always love her.” Really, they wouldn’t be where they were if it wasn’t for Padmé.

“She’s very insightful,” she said with a nod.

“And very strong-willed, impulsive, and justice oriented,” he added. Then he gave her a wry smile. “The more I think about it, I’ve realized that I might have a type.”

Satine laughed.

\------

Padmé gave up on trying to fall back to sleep. There were a few hours before she actually had to get up, but there was no point in spending them staring at the ceiling.

She wasn’t handling the Force-sensitivity issue as well as she would have liked. She still had no idea what to do with such knowledge or even how she felt about it. How much of what she thought was her intuition was actually the Force? She’d been looking back on every moment since her death, trying to see if maybe the Force was at work. Was it supposed to be a gift, something to help her after she woke up in the past? Was the Force sentient? Padmé had never talked about the philosophy of it with Obi-Wan. She’d tried once with Anakin in her other timeline, and he’d told her that he was never interested in that sort of thing.

It was such unfamiliar territory for her, and she had no idea how to tackle her worries, especially the ones related to her pregnancy. Being Force-sensitive while carrying a child who would no doubt be very strong in the Force rose so many questions, one being about bonds. How exactly was a Force bond formed? Would she end up having one with her child once it reached a certain stage of development? Or was she too weak in the Force for that to happen? She felt like she was starting to go mad with all the uncertainty.

They were so close to getting a treaty signed, and soon after that was accomplished, she would resign from office, go home, and tell the three of them to come to Naboo. Padmé would have to ask Bail to put his bill about the clones forward a little early so that she could vote on it before she left. She would be more than happy for that to be the last bill she voted on.

For the moment, she just had to push her own worries and needs aside, to a certain degree, of course. She still had to take care of herself for the baby’s sake.

Padmé was just so tired of being alone.

\------

After a brief session of meditation on the roof, Ahsoka decided to try contacting Padmé since she hadn’t talked to her in a while. Obi-Wan and Anakin probably already told Padmé that she’d gone off on her own. She couldn’t imagine Anakin going more than a few days without contacting Padmé, and that topic would surely come up. It must have killed him when they were on long missions, and he simply had no choice but to go without talking to Padmé for weeks or months at a time.

_“Hello, Ahsoka! I forgot you have a holocomm now.”_

Ahsoka grinned. “Yeah, I still have my old comlink, but if you need to reach me, it’s better to use this frequency.”

_“I’ll be sure to save it in my contacts then. So how are you? They told me you left.”_

“Well, they were really getting my nerves, what with all the constant bickering, so I simply _had_ to leave.” She smiled in a way that Padmé would know she was only kidding.

Padmé laughed, nodding. _“They can be a handful sometimes. But you must be lonely.”_

“No, I’m staying with a friend.” And said friend almost kissed her the previous day. At least, Ahsoka thought that was what Steela was going to do before Saw walked in.

 _“That’s good.”_ Ahsoka could tell she was suppressing a yawn. She should have checked what time it was there. _“Do you regret leaving the Order?”_

“I don’t, but it’s difficult to try to decide what kind of life I want.”

_“That will take much longer than just a few days, or even a few weeks, but I have faith in you, Ahsoka. If you ever need any help, though, please don’t hesitate to ask.”_

She smiled. “Thank you. I know I still have time.” Ahsoka really wanted to figure it all out on her own, but it was nice to know that the offer was there. “How are you doing?”

Padmé looked off to the side, worry flashing across her face. _“Yoda told me something a few days after you all left that I’ve been struggling with.”_ She took a deep breath and looked back at Ahsoka. _“Apparently, I’m mildly Force-sensitive.”_

Ahsoka was definitely not expecting her to say that. How was that even possible? “But your Force signature never felt any different to me.”

 _“Yoda said one could only tell through probing.”_ She winced as if the memory itself was painful.

“I’ve never been probed in the Force myself, but I heard that it’s uncomfortable.”

 _“That’s an understatement,”_ she said dryly. _“I don’t feel any different, and it’s not like I can sense people’s emotions.”_

“If you’re that weak in the Force, that’s probably something you’d have to concentrate on.”

_“Even with someone like Anakin? I can’t understand not feeling anything from him.”_

“Well, you wouldn’t if he had his shields up. Like the day after you and Obi-Wan told him about you being from the future? He had his shields up, so all I could get from him was his location. Have you told them yet?”

Padmé shook her head. _“And please don’t say anything. I know Anakin would start to panic, not necessarily because I’m Force-sensitive, but because Yoda knows I am. He keeps thinking Yoda is going to do something nefarious to me.”_

Ahsoka promised to keep it to herself, but it felt like there was something Padmé wasn’t telling her. She wasn’t going to ask, though. Instead, she answered Padmé’s questions about the Force as best she could. “I’m sorry. I’m clearly not knowledgeable enough about this. Obi-Wan would probably be able to answer your questions a lot better.”

_“It’s fine. This still helps. It’s a relief just to talk about it with someone.”_

Ahsoka smiled and tried to ignore the fact that she had a lot of her own issues she needed to talk about. She would feel guilty bringing them up to Padmé when she had so much to deal with, which obviously extended beyond politics. Ahsoka could handle it.

She could definitely handle it.

\------

It was so satisfying to sleep in an actual bed that Anakin didn’t want to get up in the morning. The only downside was that he didn’t have an excuse to cuddle with Obi-Wan. The bed was so huge that Obi-Wan put as much distance between them as possible, claiming that he wanted to sleep in peace. Anakin used to take that sort of thing personally, but just like with Padmé, Obi-Wan sometimes needed to have some space. Besides, Obi-Wan wasn’t a very tactile person to begin with. At least Padmé was, but still not as much as Anakin, so she had her limits.

When Obi-Wan threatened to yank all the blankets off the bed, Anakin finally got up and was delighted by the size of the shower. It could easily hold 10 people. “Hey, Obi-Wan!” Anakin poked his head out of fresher to make sure he had his attention. “The shower is enormous. Would you care to join me?” He leered at him in an exaggerated way to show that he was only joking, and all he got as a reply was a pillow thrown at his face. Anakin was too busy laughing to block it with the Force.

After they were showered and dressed, they ate the little biscuits that were left for them as a quick breakfast. Anakin had gotten his dinner by wandering into the kitchens and almost getting beaten with a wooden spoon before he managed to charm the head cook into giving him a little something. Well, if he was being honest with himself, they had probably given him food because they felt sorry for him, but he hadn’t cared. He’d just wanted to eat. It hadn’t been enough, though, so he practically inhaled his biscuits, which caused Obi-Wan to stare at him with a mixture of worry and disgust.

“You _did_ have something for dinner, right?”

Anakin nodded, his mouth too full to speak.

Not long after that, they went to the throne room where Obi-Wan thanked Satine for her generous hospitality.

“Of course. Next time, bring Padmé with you.” Then she narrowed her eyes at Anakin, but he forced himself not to back away. “Do not forget what I said.”

“I won’t.”

Once they were back at their ship, Obi-Wan sighed. “We should have gotten supplies.”

“Too late now. We’ll be alright for a little while.”

Obi-Wan nodded. “We may as well refuel. I’ll take care of it. You go see if Artoo is still in a bad mood about being left behind.”

Anakin rolled his eyes as he lowered the ramp. Artoo had to understand that he couldn’t be taken everywhere, but Anakin still wasn’t sure if Obi-Wan was telling the truth about Satine not appreciating an astromech rolling around her palace.

Suddenly, Anakin sensed a warning in the Force. He looked around the ship, but nothing stood out. Then Obi-Wan came jogging over.

“You sense it as well?” he asked.

“Yeah. Did you pay for the fuel yet?”

“They only just started to pump it.” Obi-Wan walked away, likely to pay for their fuel as soon as possible.

Then he saw the reason for the warning, a Jedi. Anakin couldn’t do much to fend off a lightsaber without his own, which was still in the Temple somewhere. His best chance would be to disarm them somehow and defeat them in hand-to-hand combat. He made a mental note to get a blaster during their next supply run. It wouldn’t do much, but it would be better than nothing, and he wouldn’t have to rely on Obi-Wan.

Soon after Anakin spotted the Jedi, they turned and locked eyes with him.

 _Kriff! Obi-Wan, we have to go_ now _!_

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Obi-Wan replied as he ran up the ramp, hitting the button to raise it once he was inside. “I cut it short, so we didn’t actually get that much fuel.”

Anakin nodded. They already had enough to last them for a little while. “Artoo! We need to get out of here quickly!” he shouted as he dashed into the cockpit.

Within minutes, they were up and flying away from the port as fast as the ship could go. Anakin weaved in and out of traffic expertly, but he could feel Obi-Wan’s anxiety spike. “We’ll be fine. You know this sort of thing is my specialty.”

“Just please don’t do any barrel rolls. I would very much prefer to keep my breakfast where it belongs.”

A ship was closing in on them and started to fire, clearly aiming for the engines.

“Well, it looks like they don’t want us dead, at least,” Obi-Wan commented lightly.

Anakin maneuvered the ship into wide zigzags. “I’m going to need you to shoot them down.”

“What? Just get us out of Mandalore’s atmosphere so we can make the jump to hyperspace!”

A bolt clipped one of the wings, causing the ship to jostle slightly.

Anakin nearly growled at the impact. “We can’t have them reporting to the Council that we were here!”

“They’ve probably already done that, Anakin! I’m not going to shoot them down! Look, we’ve just left the atmosphere. Make the jump to hyperspace!”

He ignored him. “Artoo, cut the power to the engines!” As soon as Artoo complied, the Jedi starfighter zoomed passed them, and Anakin had only a few seconds to switch control of the guns to him.

“Anakin, stop!”

He fired twice, the second shot making a successful hit. The starfighter had sustained enough damage that it wouldn’t be able to make it to the hyperspace rings that were floating nearby, but just to be safe, Anakin destroyed the rings. Then he transferred control of the guns back to the copilot and had Artoo get the engines online before making the jump to hyperspace.

Anakin sat back and relaxed. It was a close call, but they made it.

Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair, his irritation heavy in the Force. “You had intended to kill them.”

“I didn’t kill them, though,” he stated calmly.

“Yes, because you changed your mind. It still stands that you originally wanted them dead, and that you told _me_ to kill them is even worse. Do you really think I’m capable of—”

“Capable of what _I’m_ so obviously capable of?” Anakin snapped, turning to look at him.

Obi-Wan glared and stood up. “That is not what I was going to say. Don’t put words in my mouth.”

Before Obi-Wan could walk out, Anakin grabbed his wrist. “But you know it’s true. I killed Jedi in another life, and I had no problem with doing that just now.”

Obi-Wan yanked his wrist free. “Was it because they were firing at us, or was it because all you cared about was them reporting back to the Council? Because if you were willing to kill someone based solely on that, then . . . ”

“Then _what_?” He got up from the pilot’s chair and loomed over him. “Tell me.”

But all of the frustration abruptly drained out of Obi-Wan, and he looked away. “I don’t know, Anakin,” he nearly whispered. “Are you so desperate to keep your freedom that you’re willing to kill?”

While the utter misery in Obi-Wan’s voice made his anger lessen to the point where he was no longer seeing red, the actual words made him take a step back in shock. “You . . . really don’t get it, do you?”

“Don’t get what?”

“I’m-I was . . . ” Anakin took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts, which was always hard to do when he was angry. “Freedom means _everything_ to me. I was a _slave_ , Obi-Wan. You just . . . It feels like you don’t even try to understand because a Jedi isn’t supposed to dwell on the past. Well, I can’t help it! My past will always be a part of me! Did it even occur to you what the prospect of being locked up for life actually meant to me, as a _former slave_? If you, Padmé, and Ahsoka hadn’t decided to break me out, I would have done everything in my power to do it myself, even if it meant using the dark side. Because I’m not-I’m not going back to that. Not ever. I can’t.” His voice cracked on that last word as his anger morphed into despair. Would Obi-Wan actually understand? Would he even want to? Pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, Anakin said, “I hope you know that if the Council shows up to take me away, I will fight with everything I have to keep my freedom.”

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything for some time, and Anakin was getting a strange mix of emotions from him through their bond. When he finally took his hands away from his face, he saw that Obi-Wan’s gaze was on the floor.

“You’re right,” Obi-Wan said slowly. “I haven’t tried to understand. In fact, I . . . I’ve tried to my best to ignore it.” He looked up at Anakin, his shoulders drooping. “And for that I apologize.”

“Would you fight them?” Anakin had to know.

He almost looked offended by the question. “I would do anything for you. You must know that by now.”

Anakin backed away and shook his head. “But I don’t, not really. I feel like you’ll always be a Jedi first, even though you’re technically not a Jedi anymore. You weren’t willing to take the guns a moment ago.”

“That’s different. They didn’t have to die, and you proved that by not killing them.” Obi-Wan walked up to him and placed his hands on Anakin’s shoulders. “I want you to know that I will put you first, and that means I would stand right beside you to fight the Council, if it ever came to that.”

The determination Anakin felt through their bond eased the tension in his body, and while he knew they needed to talk about it more, he didn’t have the energy for it. Instead, he just nodded and asked, “Do you think it was a coincidence that a Jedi was on Mandalore?”

Obi-Wan looked relieved, whether at the new topic or that Anakin wasn’t angry with him anymore, he didn’t know. “Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Yoda is aware of my past feelings for Satine. Qui-Gon knew, and he might have spoken with Yoda about it. So perhaps he thought we would come here. I’m not going to worry, though. We’ve only been found twice, and unless the Council decides to make it public that we’re missing, I don’t think we’ll have too much of a problem.”

After all, the galaxy was a big place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny that it takes being on the run from the Jedi to get Anakin and Obi-Wan to actually talk to each other. And Ahsoka will finally stop ignoring her own issues in the next chapter. The poor girl needs to realize that she’s still a teenager, and she shouldn't think that she has to be able to deal with all the shit life has thrown at her like an adult would.


	15. Chapter 15

They were finally on the last leg of their journey to Serenno. It’d taken them a little longer than Obi-Wan had planned, but that was due to the fact that he’d overestimated how long they could stand to be in each other’s space without a break. Since they were out of hyperspace, Obi-Wan decided to check the news, and splashed across the main page was the headline “Treaty Signed.” He skimmed the article, relieved and stunned that both Senates accepted the treaty after only one set of revisions had been made. So the war truly was going to be over by the time they reached Serenno. Obi-Wan had mostly been joking.

He looked down at Anakin, who was sleeping beside him, and debated on whether to wake him or let him continue sleeping peacefully. Brushing the hair away from his forehead, he decided not to disturb him. Instead, he carefully got up and went to the cockpit to try to contact Padmé. It was early evening in the capital city at that time.

 _“Obi-Wan, it’s so nice to see you,”_ she greeted him with a smile. _“I was just about to contact you.”_

“It’s lovely to see you as well. I read that the treaty had been signed. I can’t believe it happened that quickly, just over two weeks.”

_“I know, but I’m so glad the war is finally over. And as for the talks, I swear I was this close to strangling Gunray . . . or putting a blaster bolt between his eyes.”_

Obi-Wan could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to be in the same room as him and not even be allowed to give him a good slap. “I’m sure he wasn’t exactly comfortable being around you, at least. He is the cowardly type.”

 _“Oh, yes.”_ She held her head up high. _“There were a few instances during breaks where he almost walked in my direction and let out a delightfully frightened noise before scurrying off to the corner.”_

He chuckled. “I wish I could have seen it.”

Padmé looked away and sighed. _“I wish_ both _of you could have seen it because then you’d still be here on Coruscant.”_ But before Obi-Wan could comment on that, she got back on topic. _“The details of the treaty won’t be released until tomorrow. Because the Separatist Senate was angry about being deceived over Sidious, they agreed to a light punishment of most of the Council members. The Trade Federation will be fined, which I’m happy about, but I wanted their punishment to be more severe. At least I found out that Palpatine had in fact been responsible for the invasion of Naboo.”_

While that didn’t surprise him, that had to really sting for Padmé. “And the Council members really agreed to this?”

_“They saw no other way of ending it. And with Palpatine dead, they’re not going to get what was promised to them, so why bother dragging out the war?”_

So they were capable of being reasonable then. “I’m glad it went a lot smoother than we had all expected it would.”

Padmé rubbed her eyes. He couldn’t tell through the holo, but she must have taken her makeup off already. _“It will be a rough few years, trying to figure everything out. A lot will depend on who is elected Chancellor.”_ She smiled and leaned forward a bit. _“Bail is thinking about running.”_

Obi-Wan smiled back. “He would make a fine Chancellor. Now enough of all this political talk. How are you, Padmé?”

_“I’m alright. What about you and Anakin? Anything exciting happen, good or bad?”_

She was deflecting and being very obvious about it, too. Obi-Wan wondered if he should call her out on it or pretend he didn’t notice, but she must have a reason for not wanting to discuss her situation, so he played along. “We went to Mandalore two days ago.” He waved his hand at her dismissively when she frowned at the use of a location name. “We were spotted by a Jedi as we were leaving, so the Council already knows we were there.”

 _“How is Satine doing?”_ She cringed. “ _Oh, that must have been awkward. Unless you didn’t tell her?”_

“Satine is doing well, and yes, I told her. She threatened Anakin with immense pain if he ever hurts me and then basically said I was being ridiculous for not sleeping with him.”

She laughed, but it almost sounded a bit strained. Obi-Wan was beginning to rethink his decision to let her be. _“That sounds like Satine. Did you tell her about me, too?”_

“Yes, and I apologize for that. At least it’s not as though she’ll go running to the reporters.”

_“Oh, it’s fine. I honestly don’t even care anymore. I told Bail about us the day we started the negotiations.”_

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened at that. “I . . . see.”

Padmé looked down for a moment, her hands coming up to fiddle with her hair. _“I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have without asking if it was alright. I actually told him about everything. It’s helped to have someone to talk to without having to watch what I say.”_

“No, no, it’s fine. I understand. What was his reaction?”

_“He just thought it was strange because Naboo is a rather conservative planet, and I was raised by conservative parents. Oddly enough, he didn’t make any comment about you.”_

Obi-Wan tried to ignore the fact that Padmé had essentially just told him that her parents wouldn’t approve of her having relationships with two people. He really hoped he wouldn’t ever have to meet them, but he knew that was unlikely.

_“Oh! I had a very interesting visit from Mace a few days ago. He wants to speak with Anakin, and it seems like he’s not on Yoda’s side, or at least he’s debating about going against Yoda.”_

He leaned back in the chair. “I’m surprised, but also not. Mace’s behavior after the holocron had been strange. He even called Anakin by his given name.”

 _“How is Anakin anyway? He’s not sick, is he?”_ She gave him a wry smile. _“I can’t see him willingly sitting out a conversation with me.”_

“He’s fine, just sleeping. I didn’t want to bother him. You’ll be happy to know that we’ve done quite a bit of talking since we left Coruscant. I remember that was one of your complaints about us.”

_“And it was an extremely valid complaint.”_

She tried to give him what he assumed was supposed to be a self-satisfied grin, but there was something about the look in her eyes that troubled Obi-Wan. The fact that he could see through her act when they were speaking over a holoprojection meant that whatever was going on must be serious.

”Padmé, are you truly alright?”

She rubbed her temples. _“Yes, I’m merely tired. It’s been a long day.”_

“Then I’ll let you go,” he said reluctantly.

_“Tell Anakin I’ll comm him tomorrow. Be safe, Obi-Wan.”_

He nearly reached out to her hologram, but he caught himself. “You, too, Padmé.”

It was difficult to get her to admit when something was wrong in person, so he knew neither of them would be able to get an answer from her over a projection. Hopefully, whatever it was wouldn’t get too much worse before they could meet with her.

When he went back into the cargo hold, Anakin had just woken up, his eyes still bleary and his hair sticking out in all directions. “Who were you talkin’ to?” He yawned loudly. “I thought I heard voices.”

“I saw on the HoloNet that the treaty had been signed, so I contacted Padmé. She said she’ll comm you tomorrow. Well, tomorrow her time.”

That woke him up the rest of the way. “Wait, it’s over? Really? Are we still going to Serenno?”

Obi-Wan sat beside him and picked up his datapad. “Just because the war is over doesn’t mean the Jedi will stop looking for us.”

“But Padmé won’t have to stay on Coruscant. Can’t we go see her?”

“It’s not safe yet, Anakin. Try to be patient.” When Anakin frowned, Obi-Wan reached out and brushed the backs of his fingers against Anakin’s cheek. “I miss her, too, but we have to wait a little longer.”

\------

Ahsoka was just coming out of her meditation as Steela opened the door to the roof. It was the only place where she wouldn’t be in the way, considering she was sharing a room with Steela, but she didn’t mind since she felt relaxed while being outside.

“I was beginning to worry,” Steela said.

“I’m sorry.” Ahsoka got to her feet slowly, feeling a bit lightheaded. She hadn’t eaten in a while. “It’s easy to lose track of time while meditating.”

“Well, we’ve just started preparing dinner, so come back down. You look hungry anyway.”

Ahsoka grinned. “Famished, really.”

She followed Steela down to the apartment and found that Saw was already cutting up some vegetables.

“I got a job for you,” he said. “A friend of mine needs help with transporting goods to an area that suffered some storm damage.”

“Sounds good to me. Thank you, Saw.”

He shot her a smile over his shoulder. “No problem.”

It would be her very first job, but she’d done something similar a few times as a Jedi, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Getting a job, even a temporary one, was the first step to becoming a true civilian, so she was actually looking forward to it.

Ahsoka set herself to the task of cutting up the meat. She really enjoyed cooking. She’d never done it before, so she needed a lot of guidance, but she was a quick learner. There was something satisfying about eating a dish she had a hand in making. But with her lifelong bland diet, just the hint of any kind of hot seasoning nearly had her gagging, earning her a few laughs from her roommates.

After dinner, Steela whispered something to her brother, and he volunteered to clean up. Ahsoka was about to help when Steela put a hand on her arm and asked if she could speak with her alone. She tried not to be nervous as they went up to the roof. Was she getting kicked out? Ahsoka didn’t want to impose on them, so if they asked her to leave, she would find another place to stay without a fuss. Money wouldn’t be an issue since she still had access to Padmé’s account. Oddly enough, both Steela and Saw had refused to accept money from her unless it was her own.

“What’s really going on, Ahsoka?” There wasn’t any anger in her voice. Rather, she sounded concerned. “I believe you when you say you resigned from the Jedi Order, but I feel like there’s more to it. You act strangely whenever the Jedi are brought up.”

That wasn’t what Ahsoka was expecting, but she wasn’t really surprised. She knew she got cagey about what happened before she came to Onderon. “It’s . . . hard to explain to someone who’s so far on the outside.”

Steela crossed her arms, eyebrow raised. “Try me.”

Looking at the ground, Ahsoka debated whether she should tell her or not. Keeping secrets wasn’t going to help either of them if they actually tried to be in relationship at some point. Ahsoka took a deep breath, but it did nothing to ease her anxiety, so she just went for it. Once she started talking, she couldn’t stop. It came out all at once, the fear and the hopelessness. All Ahsoka knew was how to be one thing, and she was _trying_ , but there were both too many options and none at all. To top it all off, her old life was slowly falling apart, and there was nothing she could do to help.

When Ahsoka finally stopped, breathing hard, Steela just stared at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m a total mess,” Ahsoka said quietly.

But Steela shook her head. “Don’t apologize, Ahsoka. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to go through all that, to doubt everything you’ve ever been taught.” Taking a step toward Ahsoka, Steela reached out to touch her, but she seemed to think better of it and let her hand drop to her side. “You don’t have to figure out what to do, or who to be, right now. Eventually, you can decide what you want to try doing, and if you realize you don’t like it, just try something else. People change their minds all the time. You don’t have to decide on one thing and stick to it for the rest of your life if it makes you unhappy.”

Ahsoka gave up on not crying, but she wiped her eyes quickly to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

That’s when Steela finally rested her hands on Ahsoka’s shoulders. “Crying is perfectly healthy.”

Ahsoka looked at her, and upon seeing the genuine kindness in Steela’s eyes, Ahsoka sunk to her knees and began sobbing. Her tears were for the children whom she grew up with and had everything taken from them by the war, for her own lost childhood, for all the people who died because they got caught up in a Sith Lord’s scheme, for the troopers who were bred for war and would soon have no place in the galaxy. She thought she _wanted_ to be a Jedi, but in reality, she was never given a choice. Being a Force-sensitive child meant she had to go with Master Plo.

But she didn’t have a bad life. Master Plo truly cared about her and had watched out for her when she was a youngling, and no one had ever been cruel to her at the Temple, even though she was different. Ahsoka understood why Master Yoda assigned her to Anakin. He was like her in that he struggled with following Jedi doctrine. They both cared a little too much and relied on their emotions when they shouldn’t, but Ahsoka wasn’t anywhere close to being on the same level as him. They were probably meant to find peace in the fact that they weren’t alone, that there were others who found it difficult to be proper Jedi.

Ahsoka could be upset about everything that was wrong with the Order while still realizing that the Order had given her a family and the means to do good in the galaxy. She just had to figure out how to translate what she was taught as a Jedi into something practical as a civilian.

After Ahsoka finally noticed the arm around her shoulders, she gave Steela a wobbly smile, and Steela smiled back.

“I know you’ll be okay,” she said gently.

Ahsoka couldn’t speak just yet, but she nodded and hoped Steela could see the gratitude on her face.

Steela was right. She’d get through it . . . someday.

\------

Obi-Wan felt like he’d slept for an entire day. Looking at the chrono on the wall, he was startled to find that it actually _had_ been a day. He sat up in the bed of their rented room just as Anakin walked out of the fresher, his hair still wet from the shower he had obviously taken.

“Feel better?” Anakin asked.

“Much.” While Obi-Wan tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he decided that a shower sounded like a great idea. “I hope you didn’t use all the hot water.”

“I was quick, so you’re fine,” he replied with a grin.

Anakin usually was. Growing up in a place where water was scarce, he felt that taking long showers was a waste. Obi-Wan had realized that Anakin only took his time when they returned to the Temple after an exceptionally long and arduous mission.

They never actually spoke about how the war affected them. He noticed the differences in Anakin’s behavior over time, how he was more easily startled by loud noises or how his anger was always waiting just below the surface. Sometimes, Anakin let his mask fall, and the bone-deep weariness that Obi-Wan himself was very familiar with made him look much older than his 22 years. Obi-Wan had seen others, both Jedi and clones, with the same expression. He only hoped that with the fighting now over, they could all begin to heal. He just had no idea how to go about doing that.

By the time Obi-Wan exited the fresher, Anakin was lying on his stomach on their bed as he looked through the datapad. He didn’t even acknowledge Obi-Wan until he sat next to him and leaned against the headboard.

Anakin peered up at him and smiled. “Hi.”

Obi-Wan smiled back. “Hello.”

Sitting up, Anakin put the datapad aside. He hesitated before straddling Obi-Wan’s lap and gave him a scrutinizing look as he reached out through their bond, probably trying to gain some insight into what Obi-Wan was feeling.

“This is fine,” Obi-Wan whispered, his hands coming to rest on Anakin’s thighs.

Anakin stared for a bit longer before he cradled the back of Obi-Wan’s head and bent down to kiss him. He almost seemed unsure of himself, but once Obi-Wan responded with enthusiasm, he let go of his inhibitions.

Wrapping his arms around him, Obi-Wan swiftly moved forward so that Anakin was lying on his back under him. He ground their hips together, causing Anakin to moan and start pawing at Obi-Wan’s clothes, and he couldn’t remember the last time he was so—

Obi-Wan’s stomach let out an obscenely loud growl, and they both froze. The moment being effectively ruined, Anakin started laughing, and Obi-Wan soon joined him as he rubbed the back of his neck in mild embarrassment. “I’m sorry. Considering how long I’d been asleep, it’s been quite some time since I last ate.”

Smiling, Anakin shook his head. “I even told Artoo to go to sleep. We have plenty of time, though, and I should eat something, too.”

They decided to go out instead of eat from their stash. It still felt strange walking around on what was once a Separatist world. The general mood seemed to be one of relief, which was surprising. Obi-Wan would have thought that there would be anger, or at the very least resentment, for having essentially lost the war.

They found a diner that reminded him of Dex’s and ordered something that sounded somewhat familiar. When he caught Anakin staring at him with his goofy smile, he huffed out a laugh. “What is it?”

“This is the first time we don’t have to hide our relationship while doing something normal couples do.”

That was true. On Coruscant, they were too recognizable as Jedi to act like anything other than friends, not that Obi-Wan was comfortable with public displays of affection. Still, he had to admit that it was nice to at least have that sort of freedom.

Suddenly, Anakin leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss.

“Why did you do that?” Obi-Wan asked, frowning.

Anakin shrugged. “Because I could.” Then he broke out into a wide grin and said, “I can’t wait until all three of us can go on a proper date.”

“You’re already married to Padmé,” Obi-Wan reminded him.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t go out on dates.” His grin slowly shrank down to a sad smile as a looked off to the side. “I really miss her. The last time I saw her in person was over four weeks ago, and I didn’t even get to spend that much time with her in the two years we’ve been married because of the war. I hope that will change soon.”

“We’ll work something out.” And not just for their sake, but for Padmé’s, too. Anakin hadn’t noticed that something was bothering her, which wasn’t unusual for him, but Obi-Wan was worried.

After they finished eating, they went back to their room, and Anakin immediately pulled out his holocomm. Obi-Wan was about to say that he should find out what time it was there before contacting her, but it was too late. Anakin was already waiting for her to pick up.

 _“Hello, Ani,”_ she greeted cheerfully. Judging by her attire, she must be at work. _“I hope nothing’s wrong.”_

“No, everything’s fine.”

Anakin was giving her a smile that Obi-Wan only ever saw him direct at her, like he was a love-struck teenager, but it didn’t make Obi-Wan jealous. He knew that what Anakin had with her was different than what Anakin had with him.

After Obi-Wan said hello, he let them talk animatedly to each other without interruption. The three of them hadn’t gotten many opportunities to be together all at once, so Obi-Wan had only seen them interact without restraint a few times. Considering how very _not_ subtle they were, he hadn’t expected them to behave much differently while they were away from prying eyes, but he was so wrong. They could be sickeningly sweet. And seeing how obviously happy and relaxed they were with each other, Obi-Wan felt like he was intruding on something he was never meant to witness, no matter that they had invited him in.

_“I’m going to be resigning before my term is up.”_

That got Obi-Wan’s attention.

“What? Are you being threatened?” Anakin asked in a rush.

Padmé shook her head. _“After everything that’s happened, I just want to go home and focus on myself for a little while. I’ll stay in the Senate long enough to make sure certain loose ends are taken care of.”_

There was definitely something Padmé wasn’t telling them, but Obi-Wan decided to let it go. Perhaps she simply wanted to tell them in person.

_“I miss you both terribly. After I resign, you should come to Naboo.”_

“Is that truly a good idea?” Obi-Wan asked as he leaned into the projector’s range.

_“I was informed that the Jedi have already looked on Naboo.”_

Anakin frowned, clearly suspicious. “Who told you that?”

_“Mace Windu. I’m not sure why he told me, but I don’t think it’s a trap.”_

While Anakin was shocked, Obi-Wan was confused as to why she wasn’t mentioning that Mace wanted to speak with Anakin.

“Have you talked to Ahsoka lately?” Anakin asked, sounding a bit desperate.

Padmé gave him a strange look, probably curious as to why he was changing the subject. _“I have. She’s okay, but she’s struggling a little.”_

“I’m afraid to contact her.” Anakin looked down at the bed forlornly. “I’m not sure if she’s waiting for me to do so, or if I should continue giving her space.”

She sighed. _“I think enough time has passed. Talk to her.”_ After he nodded, she said, _“I have to get back to work, but I’ll talk to you soon.”_

They all said their goodbyes, and then Anakin merely stared at his holocomm.

Obi-Wan discreetly checked the time for Iziz, assuming that was where Steela was living. Ahsoka probably wasn’t boarding too far from her. When he saw that it was early morning, he turned to Anakin and said gently, “It’s fine if you contact her now. She should be awake.”

***

Anakin took a deep breath and punched in her frequency. He almost wished she wouldn’t pick up because he really didn’t know what to say, but it didn’t take her too long to answer.

 _“I was wondering when you’d finally contact me,”_ she said with a faint smirk.

“But I didn’t— I thought you wanted— I wasn’t ignoring you.”

She chuckled, shaking her head. _“I’m only teasing. Hello, Master Obi-Wan.”_

Anakin looked over his shoulder and saw that Obi-Wan was bending down so that he could be within range. “Hello, Ahsoka. You don’t need to refer to me as ‘master’ anymore.”

_“I know, but it feels weird not to.”_

Obi-Wan merely smiled, his hand warm on Anakin’s back. He really didn’t need such reassurance. Ahsoka looked fine, if tired. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” he asked after Obi-Wan walked away.

_“You didn’t. I just haven’t been getting as much sleep as I’d like.”_

Anakin felt the same way. His night on Mandalore was the most restful sleep he’d had in weeks, probably months. “How have you been doing? You got to Onderon without any trouble?”

 _“Yeah, when you have money and a reasonable ability of knowing who to steer clear of, hitching a ride isn’t so bad.”_ She looked down for a moment before her head popped back up with a grin that even he could tell was fake. _“I’m staying with Steela and Saw. She refused to let me stay at an inn.”_

Ahsoka hadn’t answered his question about how she’d been, but he let it go. Instead, he gave her a knowing smile and leaned forward a little. “So how has it been going with Stee—”

 _“Anakin!”_ She actually looked a bit panicked as she glanced in Obi-Wan’s direction, even though she couldn’t actually see him.

“Are you embarrassed? Or do you think you’ll get a lecture? I mean, c’mon.” He gestured to himself as Obi-Wan stifled a laugh from his chair in the corner.

That time, her smile was genuine. _“Neither of us have made a move yet, but I’m pretty sure she likes me. I’m fine with taking it slow since I have a lot going on right now.”_

“Like what?”

Then her entire demeanor changed, like the anger she’d been holding inside had finally forced its way out. _“Like trying not to have a mental breakdown. I don’t know how you’ve been handling it, but it’s really messing with me. Being on my own has made me realize just how much that whole line of ‘you’re free to leave the Order whenever you want’ is complete bantha fodder. How are you supposed to survive without the Order when they don’t teach you useful life skills? You have no family and no money. They say you can leave, but you can’t unless you want to risk being homeless and starving. I’m lucky in that I have friends who aren’t Jedi, and I left the Order with the two of you, so even if I didn’t have Steela and Padmé, I’d still have some kind of help.”_

Anakin could only stare at her in utter shock. He’d been so caught up in looking forward to being with his lovers for the rest of his life that he hadn’t even thought about what it meant to leave everything behind and face so much uncertainty. After hearing all that, Anakin had no idea what to say.

He briefly sensed discomfort from Obi-Wan before his shields went up.

Ahsoka rubbed at her eyes and sighed. _“I’m sorry for unloading on you. I’ll be alright. I just have to get through this rough period of adjusting to civilian life.”_ She smiled weakly. _“Saw got a job for me. It’s temporary, but it’s something, and I’ll be helping people, so it’ll be familiar.”_

“Ahsoka . . . if you ever need to talk, I’m here for you.”

_“I know, Anakin, but it doesn’t feel right to complain to you when you have your own issues that are so much worse than mine.”_

He frowned. Even if that were true, it wasn’t a competition. “I’m fine.”

She clearly didn’t believe him. _“So it doesn’t bother you that Palpatine only thought of you as a tool for over a decade?”_

Anakin winced before he could stop himself. He didn’t want to think about it because when he thought about it, he got nauseous and wanted to curl up in the corner and sob until his mind went numb.

 _“I’m sorry. That was mean.”_ And she really did look like she regretted it. Even for being a teenager, Ahsoka had never snapped at him so callously before. _“I should go. I’d promised Saw I would help with the food shopping today.”_

He nodded and tried to smile, but he couldn’t quite manage it.

They said their goodbyes, and the connection was cut.

Anakin and Obi-Wan sat in silence, Obi-Wan’s shields still in place. It wasn’t quite nighttime yet, but Anakin felt tired enough to want to go to bed. Without saying a word, he stripped down to his underwear and flung the sheets back before he plopped down onto the bed and waited to see what Obi-Wan would do.

Eventually, Obi-Wan got up and mumbled something about going for a walk before he slipped out of the room, and Anakin resented him for just leaving him there. Once it was apparent that Obi-Wan wasn’t going to be returning anytime soon, Anakin fell into a fitful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahsoka really needed to get all that out to begin healing. Now if only Obi-Wan would follow her example...


	16. Chapter 16

After accepting the glass of water from Threepio, Padmé turned to Bail and asked, “How is your bill about the clones coming along?”

“Well, I’m almost done drafting it. Hopefully, I can put it forward in a few days.”

“That’s a relief.” She wouldn’t have to wait too much longer, but if the bill didn’t pass . . .

Bail furrowed his brow as he leaned back in the chair. “I feel like there’s something you’re not saying.”

“You know that I’m not running for reelection, but I’ve decided to resign before my term is up. I’ve really been neglecting my health. However, I can’t leave in good conscience without at least trying to help the clone troopers.”

He nodded, smiling slightly. “I understand, and it’s about time you actually take care of yourself.”

She raised an eyebrow. “And how much sleep have you been getting lately?”

“It’s more than just sleep, Padmé. I’m not the one who woke up in the past after dying.”

Padmé knew he was right. She was just so used to deflecting whenever someone made a comment about her health, even if she was the one to initially bring it up. “Are you sure about running for Chancellor?” she asked, hoping to get the topic of discussion off of her. “You’d be taking on the biggest mess the Republic has ever seen.”

“I am,” he said after looking a bit unimpressed. It wasn’t a smooth transition at all. “The few who’ve announced their campaigns don’t strike me as the types to help move the Republic in the right direction. It would just be more of the same, minus the Sith Lord aspect.” Then he paused, worry flashing across his face. “Palpatine and Dooku were the only ones, right?” After she nodded, he asked, “Is Yoda still sending Jedi to harass you?”

She huffed out a laugh. “You sound like Inspector Fohaan. They’re not harassing me, and it’s not every day anymore. They’re usually children who look like they’re just happy to get out of the Temple, and I don’t blame them. I sense a great struggle, like the Order is slowly tearing itself apart.” That, she knew, was a feeling that came from the Force.

“Why?”

“It’s complicated, but the spark seems to be Anakin.” Because everything was always about Anakin. “Even Mace is unsure of how to move forward. I just wish they’d give up on me. With all the stress I’m already under, especially with having to worry about the baby, I really don’t need Yoda on my back.”

Suddenly sitting up very straight, Bail stared at her with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You’re pregnant?”

Padmé kicked herself for letting that slip. “Please don’t say anything. No one else knows, not even my handmaidens, and I want to tell Anakin and Obi-Wan in person.”

“Of course I’ll keep it to myself.” He reached over the table and took her hand. “Congratulations, Padmé. I know the timing could be better, but it’s a gift nonetheless.”

She thanked him, mildly surprised that he didn’t ask who the father was.

Then her holocomm went off. She’d decided to keep it on her person at all times since they weren’t contacting her through her comlink anymore, and when she took it out of her pocket, she saw that it was Anakin.

“We’ll talk more later,” he said as he got to his feet. “Maybe you can help with the wording of the bill?”

“Of course,” she replied with a grin. “Checking for loopholes is my specialty.” She answered after Bail left, and she was taken aback by how gloomy Anakin looked. “What’s wrong, Ani?”

_“Obi-Wan has become very withdrawn. He’s even kept his shields up for the last two days.”_

“Has something happened? Obi-Wan told me that you’ve both been doing a lot of talking since the escape.”

Anakin shrugged. _“It started after I spoke with Ahsoka. I think what she said upset him, but I’m not sure.”_

After he told Padmé what Ahsoka had been trying to cope with, she felt horrible for focusing on her own problems when she spoke with her. She had no idea it was that bad, but she figured that Ahsoka wasn’t all that comfortable with discussing such Jedi-specific problems with her, at least not in detail. Maybe she thought Padmé wouldn’t care because she couldn’t relate. Padmé would have to bring that up next time. Even if she couldn’t offer any advice, she was more than willing to just be someone Ahsoka could vent to.

“Has Obi-Wan talked about how he feels about leaving the Order?”

_“Not really. All he keeps saying is that he was going to be expelled anyway.”_

Padmé knew she shouldn’t be surprised. While Obi-Wan had gotten better with certain aspects of being in a relationship, he would always have an issue with expressing himself. “Hearing Ahsoka talk about the Order as though it’s abusive was probably too much for him, so he’s repressing his emotions again.”

Anakin looked rather alarmed. _“That’s not what she meant.”_

“It doesn’t matter. I doubt Obi-Wan wants to hear that something he’s dedicated his entire life to is capable of making such enormous mistakes. And I agree with Ahsoka’s assessment. While no one is held against their will, unless they somehow managed to create a support system outside of the Order, what are they going to do if they leave?”

Anakin was silent, and she wondered if it bothered him, too. Most of the issues he’d raised about the Order were in relation to himself, but he’d never seemed to think that reform was needed, or maybe he didn’t think it was possible. As far as Padmé knew, Anakin’s main reason for wanting to leave was so he could be with her out in the open.

_“What should I do, Padmé?”_

Her heart ached for him. “Have you tried to get him to open up?”

He nodded as he ran a hand through his messy curls. _“Obi-Wan just says he’s fine.”_

“Maybe I could try talking to him. Where is he now?”

 _“I don’t know. He left about three hours ago.”_ Anakin took a deep breath, most likely trying to calm himself. _“When can we meet up with you? I miss you so much.”_

Padmé put a hand on her stomach, knowing the projection didn’t go down that far. “I miss you, too, but I have to stay on Coruscant a little longer. Bail is drafting a bill about the fate of the clones.”

Anakin perked up. _“Do you know how the 501 st and the 212th are doing?”_

“All I know is that they haven’t been assigned anywhere since you and Obi-Wan left. Because the fighting is over, clone troopers are being sent out on relief missions instead, but that’s not what they were trained to do, so I’m not sure how they feel about it. I want them to become citizens of the Republic and to have the option of being integrated into civilian life.”

 _“I don’t think many of them would take that option. All they know is how to fight. If they were to leave the army, they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves.”_ As he spoke, his eyes widened, and he looked away from her. _“It’s . . . it’s not the same,”_ he whispered. _“I know the clones are practically slaves, but the Jedi . . . I know it’s different for the others. I looked at the Order as a lesser form of slavery because I struggled so much, because I wasn’t raised within the Order like they were. I knew life with emotions and family. Obi-Wan’s not— He’s not a slave.”_

“Of course he’s not,” she said gently. It took her a moment to understand how he went from the clones wanting to stay in the army to proclaiming that Obi-Wan wasn’t a slave. It seemed that Anakin really hadn’t given it much thought as to what Obi-Wan must be dealing with after giving up his sole purpose in life. Padmé never felt that being a Jedi made up his entire existence, but she knew that was how Obi-Wan viewed it. “I’m sure there are many Jedi who are truly happy with their lives, or they were before the war. I know without having to be told that Obi-Wan’s experience within the Order was vastly different from your own, and it must be upsetting to realize that the way the Jedi handle certain issues isn’t at all healthy and can be considered abusive. I didn’t start to question the Order myself until I learned I was pregnant and feared that they would take the child from us.”

Frowning, Anakin shook his head. _“I would never have allowed it.”_

“But they had the legal right to do so, Anakin.”

Then he abruptly looked up at something behind her, and she could tell by his expression that Obi-Wan had just walked in.

***

Anakin hoped that he hadn’t been listening in. Obi-Wan stopped when he saw Padmé’s projection and turned around, but Padmé spoke up, using the commanding tone that she usually reserved for the Senate.

_“You better not be thinking of leaving, Obi-Wan Kenobi.”_

He wondered how she even knew he was there.

Obi-Wan just faced the door, shoulders slumped, but Anakin still couldn’t get a read on him.

 _“You_ have _to talk about what’s bothering you. I’ll gladly listen if you don’t wish to speak with Anakin.”_

“I’ll leave, if that’s what you want,” Anakin said reluctantly.

“I don’t know what I want,” Obi-Wan muttered.

Anakin looked back at Padmé, unsure of what to do.

She sighed. _“You really need to get out of the habit of repressing how you feel.”_

Obi-Wan whipped around and snapped, “I’m not repressing anything!” But he immediately closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I’m sorry.” He walked over to Anakin and held out his hand, and after Anakin gave him the holocomm, he said quietly, “I know I should talk about it, but I just can’t. If I open that door, I’m afraid I’ll never get it closed again. For now, I have to try to ignore it.”

Anakin couldn’t see her reaction, but he could imagine her frowning at him. _“Do you plan on ignoring it forever?”_

“I would like to, but I won’t.”

_“Well, you need to open up a little because I can tell even through a holo that Anakin is incredibly unhappy.”_

Anakin cringed, wishing she hadn’t said that, and he had to look away when Obi-Wan glanced at him.

“We’ll comm you later. Be safe, Padmé.”

She didn’t respond at first. Maybe she was giving him her best Senator Amidala glare. Anakin had been on the receiving end of that particular glare a few times. _“You, too, Obi-Wan.”_

The call ended before Anakin got to say goodbye, but he wasn’t about to complain.

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything for a moment, but then he handed the holocomm back to him and sat on the bed. “I didn’t mean to upset you by shutting you out.”

Anakin snorted. “Did you honestly think that it _wouldn’t_ upset me?”

Looking at him out of the corner of his eye, Obi-Wan nodded. “Fair point.”

It didn’t used to be so easy to get Obi-Wan to see a situation from his point of view. Anakin appreciated that change in him almost more than anything else. “What have you even been doing if you’re trying to ignore how you feel?”

“Exploring and meditating,” he replied simply.

Typical Obi-Wan. Anakin wasn’t sure why he’d expected him to say anything else. “You don’t have to talk about it, but please stop leaving me alone, or at least tell me when you’ll be back.”

“I can give you a timeframe.” He paused before saying, “You’re welcome to join me if you promise to be quiet.”

Anakin crossed his arms and leaned back against the headboard. “You and I both know that’s not possible.”

Obi-Wan smiled at him for the first time in two days.

\------

Padmé tried comming Ahsoka, but she wasn’t picking up, just like the day before. Maybe Anakin knew what was going on. Before she could hit the button for his frequency, though, a bout of nausea overtook her. She’d had some nausea during her first pregnancy, but it was much worse the second time around, as was the exhaustion. She also had more mood swings, but at least she hadn’t broken down crying yet. She was so afraid of doing that in front of a senator. Padmé decided to blame it on her being Force-sensitive. That was the only real difference between the two pregnancies. It was going to be harder to keep the pregnancy a secret from those closest to her when the symptoms were so strong.

Teckla came into her office to say that Bail had arrived to go over his speech, so Padmé put on a smile and tried to will the nausea away.

“Are you alright, milady?”

“I’m fine. I just haven’t been getting much sleep lately.”

Teckla didn’t look very convinced.

Bail also asked if she was alright, but at least since he already knew about the pregnancy, she was able to tell him the truth.

“Will you be able to go to the rotunda?”

She waved a hand at him. “Yes, yes. I’ll just take something for it if it persists. Now, let’s go over your speech.”

Bail looked at her with obvious concern, but he eventually nodded and turned on his datapad.

About an hour later, Teckla helped her prepare for what may be her last time in the Senate Rotunda. She decided to go with a simple dress as she really wasn’t in the mood for one of her more elaborate ensembles.

“How do I look? Good enough for my last time voting?”

Padmé had submitted the official resignation form that morning, but she’d told her staff about her resignation as soon as she’d made the decision. That way they would have more time to find other work. Since her handmaidens would be staying with her, as was customary for a former Queen of Naboo, she told them so that they knew what to expect. While they mourned the loss of her political career, they were quite happy about going home.

Teckla nodded. “I . . . I don’t mean to intrude, but I have been putting certain things together, and it seems like you might be . . . ” She bit her lip before shaking her head. “Never mind. I hope all goes well with the vote.”

She wondered if Teckla knew, but she feigned ignorance. “Me, too.”

Teckla joined her in her repulsorpod, and once the session began, Bail brought his pod forward. He had submitted his bill to be considered by the Senate the previous day, and there hadn’t been too much talk about it, which was usually a good sign.

Bail stood in his pod, and the rotunda went quiet. “Now that the war is officially over, we need to decide what is to be made of the Grand Army of the Republic. Its members came to us through the dealings of a Sith Lord, but that doesn’t mean they should be punished for something they had no control over. The clone troopers have fought for the Republic for two years, yet they aren’t even considered to be citizens of the galaxy that many of them have died to protect. Citizenship is the least they deserve. It would also grant them actual identities, not the numbers they’ve been assigned.” He paused, head bowed. “It never felt right to me, having sentient beings be bred for war. It seemed like they were little better than slaves.” Bail looked up, and as the cam droid zoomed in on his face, Padmé could see the determination blazing in his eyes. “But we have the power to try to fix that. We can give them the chance at having full lives, lives outside of the army, if they so choose. Many will probably stay, as they know nothing else, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have the same rights as the rest of us. And due to the nature of war, they should have the best medical care available to them for both their physical well-being and their mental health. I only ask that you right a wrong that was done by a man who had betrayed us all.”

As his repulsorpod went back to its place, most of the rotunda had erupted in applause. Padmé was glad that she told him to include healthcare in the bill. She was still concerned about Palpatine’s involvement, and if there was anything wrong with the clones, something built-in that would make them turn on the Jedi, she wanted there to be a chance that it’d be found.

The voting took longer than she would have liked, but that probably meant that some who were going to vote “no” were considering changing their minds after hearing Bail’s speech. Nervous, she looked over at Bail, who gave her weak smile.

Finally, the Vice Chair stood and held out their hand. “The Clones Rights Bill has passed.”

Padmé closed her eyes in relief. Now she didn’t have to feel guilty about leaving before her term was up. She knew there was still so much left to be done, but it would take years to get the Republic back to where it should be. After everything that had happened, Padmé just wanted to go home. She could tell she was reaching her limit, and she didn’t feel like dealing with both Obi-Wan and Anakin getting on her case about pushing herself too hard, especially after finding out that she was pregnant.

She stopped by Bail’s office where some of their friends were congratulating him, and Bail pulled her aside as soon as she entered. “I couldn’t have done it without your help, Padmé, so thank you.”

She shook her head, smiling. “I only tweaked a few things. This is very much your victory.”

“And a victory for the clones as well.” Lowering his voice, he asked, “When are you leaving for Naboo?”

“Tomorrow.”

“So soon? You should tell everyone. I’m sure they’d like to say goodbye.”

“I’d rather make a quiet exit. I’m very tired.” At his frown, she added, “I’ll contact them when I get there.”

Then Mon walked up to them. “Do you mind if I speak with Padmé, Bail?”

“Of course not.” Clasping her shoulders, he gave her a light kiss on each cheek. “Be well, Padmé. Please do keep in touch.”

“Don’t worry, I will."

When it was just her and Mon, Mon smiled warmly at her. It was a little startling since she was usually a bit distant. “Are you sure about your resignation?”

“I can’t run for reelection anyway.” She felt like Obi-Wan, using a line like that. “I have some personal matters I need to take care of.”

“Then I wish you the best in your future endeavors,” Mon said as she gave her a Chandrilan bow.

Soon after that, Padmé went straight to her apartment. She had taken most of her belongings from her office already, and anything that was left could be retrieved by her handmaidens.

Immediately upon entering her bedroom, Dormé practically cornered her. “Please tell me what’s wrong. You haven’t been yourself lately. We’ve been through so much together that I had hoped you would trust me.”

“Oh, Dormé. It’s not that. I—”

The room suddenly tilted, and then everything went black.

When Padmé slowly came to, she found that she was in a medcenter bed. She couldn’t believe she’d passed out. There hadn’t even been any warning. _Don’t tell me I’m going to be bedridden for most of this pregnancy._

“Oh, thank the Maker! She’s awake!”

She nearly jumped at Threepio’s exclamation.

Looking at Dormé for answers, her handmaiden sighed. “You’re fine. You just need to rest.”

“Threepio, could we please have a moment?” Padmé asked after a beat. Once he left the room, she put a hand over her stomach and closed her eyes. “I’m pregnant, and it’s been a little rough on me. I apologize for not telling you, Dormé, but I really wanted to tell Anakin and Obi-Wan first.” She realized that it was the first time she acknowledged her relationship with Obi-Wan to Dormé, even though Dormé already knew. “Well, I accidentally let it slip to Bail, so you’re the only two people who know about it.”

Dormé reached out and put a hand on top of hers. “I understand, and thank you for telling me. Of course, I will keep this secret.”

Padmé opened her eyes and smiled at her gratefully. She didn’t know why she thought she could fool her handmaidens into thinking that everything was perfectly fine.

“Will Masters Skywalker and Kenobi be joining us on Naboo?”

She didn’t bother correcting her about the title. Dormé would probably always think of them as Jedi. “Eventually, yes.”

“The child is Anakin’s, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

Padmé nodded.

She gave Padmé’s hand a squeeze. “I will help in any way I can.” Then she sat back in her chair, slouching a little. “At least now that you’re no longer in office, you don’t have an excuse not to rest.”

Padmé swallowed hard and looked to the side at the machine that was monitoring her heart rate. Dormé had just brought up something she’d been trying not to think about. What would she do after no longer being a senator? The pregnancy would probably take up most of her energy, but what about after the child was born? Ahsoka and Obi-Wan weren’t the only ones struggling to find their place in the galaxy.

She was released from the medcenter a few hours later, and she promised all of her handmaidens that she would get the rest she so obviously needed. But lying in bed didn’t mean she’d actually go to sleep. Remembering that she was about to contact Anakin earlier in the day, she got her holocomm and hoped he would answer.

 _“Hi, Padmé,”_ Anakin greeted, looking a bit disheveled.

“Did I wake you?”

He yawned while rubbing at his eyes. _“You did, but it’s fine. I was just napping.”_ Then he looked up at something and blinked in surprise. _“Wow, okay. I didn’t realize it was that late. Good timing, Padmé.”_

She smiled at him. “How have the two of you been doing?”

 _“We’re fine. Obi-Wan still goes out, but he tells me when he’ll be back, and it’s usually only an hour at a time. He’s dropped his shields, too.”_ Anakin leaned forward a little, and she could see that he looked contrite. _“I’m sorry that we never commed you like Obi-Wan said we would.”_

“Don’t worry about it, Ani. I’ve been very busy anyway. The bill about the clones got passed.”

He closed his eyes briefly. _“I’m glad. I’ll have to try to get in contact with Rex somehow. I still feel awful about how I left things.”_

“It’s not like it was your fault. Oh, have you spoken with Ahsoka again?”

He nodded. _“I have. She’s working right now, helping some storm victims, and she seemed a little better.”_

Padmé assumed that was why she wasn’t picking up. She would have to leave her a message then. “I’ll be leaving for Naboo tomorrow, and I would like it if you joined me. The Jedi won’t think it’s odd that I’m returning home since I just resigned, so it should be safe for you to go there.”

Anakin’s entire face brightened, making him look much younger than he was. _“Really?_

“Yes, really,” she said, laughing at his excitement. It had been too long since she saw him look that happy.

 _“We’ll leave as soon as Obi-Wan returns. We’re on the other side of the galaxy, so it’ll take us a while to reach Naboo, but I’m hoping we won’t have to make as many stops.”_ He was talking so quickly that Padmé had trouble keeping up. _“I’ll try not to let Obi-Wan bother me like before, when we were constantly fighting. Except now that the sexual tension is so much higher, I’m not sure what will happen.”_

Padmé was taken aback by that. “Wait, you still haven’t slept together?” She couldn’t remember when they finally did in her old timeline, but there was truly no comparison since everything was completely different in the current timeline. Padmé did remember that it wasn’t too long after that that her and Obi-Wan slept together.

Anakin shrugged. _“We almost did, but we got interrupted, and with whatever is going on with him now, we haven’t tried again.”_

“Please don’t let your first time be on some dingy ship,” she said with a sigh.

That startled a laugh out of him. _“I’m going to tell Obi-Wan you said that. I can’t wait to see you, actually see you. I’ve missed you_ so _much, Padmé.”_

“I’ve missed you, too. Keep me updated on how close you are to Naboo. But no actual locations, alright?”

_“Of course.”_

\------

Obi-Wan had lost track of time, so he was prepared to get an earful when he got back to their room, but the random burst of joy he’d felt through their bond confused him. Maybe since Anakin was in a mysteriously good mood, he wouldn’t mind that Obi-Wan was a whole hour late.

As soon as he walked through the door, Anakin practically flew off the bed to confine him in a tight hug. “Padmé wants us to go to Naboo. We can actually be with her again.”

That explained the sudden happiness. Relieved, Obi-Wan hugged him back.

When Anakin let him go, he said in a rush, “Padmé also said that our first time sleeping together shouldn’t be on our ship, and she’s right. It’ll be a very long journey if we don’t get it out of our systems.”

Obi-Wan didn’t even need the Force to be able to tell how embarrassed Anakin was after saying that. While Anakin had been doing better about thinking before speaking, Obi-Wan didn’t expect him to do so whenever he got that excited.

Then Anakin’s eyes widened, and he took a step away from him. “I’m not trying to pressure you. I’m just afraid of how we’ll be around each other if we don’t . . . ” He cringed and covered his face with his hands. “Just forget I opened my stupid mouth,” he said dejectedly.

Smiling, Obi-Wan pulled his hands down. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning, and we’ll take a more direct route this time. Why don’t we make the most of having an actual bed for one more night?”

Anakin frowned in obvious confusion. “You’re okay with . . . that?”

Obi-Wan gave him a wry look. “I won’t go into a panic if you say the word ‘sex,’ you know. And yes, I am. I said as much on Mandalore, if you remember.” As he spoke, he slowly backed Anakin toward the foot of the bed. “I don’t want this built up energy between us to explode into something awful because we didn't ‘get it out of our systems.’” When Anakin’s legs hit the bed, he fell onto it, only mildly startled. Obi-Wan stood in front of him and nudged his knees apart. “We’ll keep it simple, if that’s alright with you.”

He nodded enthusiastically as his hands shot out to grab Obi-Wan’s hips.

Anakin was looking up at Obi-Wan like he was his entire world, and having that kind of attention focused on him was a bit too much. “Scoot back onto the bed and lie down.” Anakin complied so quickly that Obi-Wan nearly chuckled. At least since they weren’t wearing their Jedi robes, there wouldn’t be so many layers to remove.

Obi-Wan got onto the bed and walked on his knees until he was straddling Anakin’s thighs. He noticed that Anakin’s breathing had sped up. “Peace, Anakin,” he whispered into his ear once he bent forward.

After taking a deep breath, Anakin asked in a strained voice, “Can I touch you?”

Obi-Wan nodded, and Anakin immediately leaned up to kiss him, wrapping one hand around the back of Obi-Wan’s neck and sliding the other under his tunic.

Obi-Wan ground his hips down hard, but instead of moaning, Anakin squeaked into his mouth. Breaking the kiss, Obi-Wan couldn’t help but laugh at the sound. “What was _that_?” Anakin’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment, making Obi-Wan feel guilty for laughing. He kissed Anakin in apology, and he assumed he was forgiven when Anakin began to tug his tunic up.

It wasn’t long before both of them had thrown each other’s clothes onto the floor, and Obi-Wan took a moment to just look at Anakin. He was beautiful, but Obi-Wan had to frown at all the scars. Most of them were thin and light, and as he traced one over his ribs, Anakin reached up and rubbed his thumb over Obi-Wan’s shoulder. That had been a particularly nasty wound.

“We both have scars from the war, but at least we made it out in one piece, more or less,” Anakin said, having calmed down a little.

Obi-Wan didn’t have to say that the war had still changed them. Even though they never talked about it, he knew Anakin felt the same way.

When Anakin placed his cybernetic hand on Obi-Wan’s side, he jumped, causing Anakin to flinch. Anakin rarely took the glove off in front of Obi-Wan despite the fact that having a prosthetic didn’t seem to bother him. Perhaps he thought it would disgust Obi-Wan.

“Your hand is cold,” he was quick to say, and he hadn’t noticed the tightness around Anakin’s eyes until it was gone.

Anakin smiled at him. “I’m sorry. You would think I’d remember that with all the times I’ve made Padmé jump.”

To show that he accepted it as a part of Anakin, Obi-Wan took his cybernetic hand and linked their fingers together. “Can you actually feel that?”

“A little. I only have sensation in my fingertips.”

Obi-Wan was ashamed that Anakin had had the arm for nearly two years, yet he didn’t know that.

“You’re thinking too much,” Anakin said quietly.

He was right. There was far too much talking as well.

Knowing that Anakin was a little out of his depth, Obi-Wan took the lead, but he did his best to make sure he wasn’t stepping over any boundaries. It was always tricky the first time, having to figure out what the other person liked and didn’t like. When Obi-Wan began to feel his impatience, he finally took Anakin in his hand. With every stroke, Anakin’s emotions got more and more intense, but Obi-Wan didn’t feel overwhelmed. He focused on how utterly gorgeous Anakin was when he was wrapped up in pleasure, which fueled his own desire. As soon as Anakin touched him, he realized that he wasn’t going to last very long, but at least it seemed like Anakin wasn’t going to either.

For whatever reason, Anakin was trying to keep his eyes open, but they would flutter shut on every sound that escaped him. While he wasn’t loud, he made all sorts of little noises, his high pitched “ah” quickly becoming Obi-Wan’s favorite. He didn’t even care that Anakin’s cybernetic hand was digging painfully into his upper arm the closer Anakin got to release. Once Anakin finally tumbled over the edge, the look on his face combined with the pleasure Obi-Wan felt through their bond was enough to send him chasing after Anakin.

Obi-Wan collapsed beside him, deciding to let his heart rate come down a little before he went into the fresher to get a wet cloth. Obi-Wan hadn’t felt that satisfied in years. If he was being honest with himself, he’d never felt that satisfied in his life. Turning his head to the side, he saw that Anakin looked positively serene. He even felt calm in the Force. “I’ll be right back,” Obi-Wan whispered. He made a quick job of cleaning them up, and Anakin just looked at him with a lethargic smile.

Even though neither of them had eaten dinner, they were too exhausted to bother with food. They’d only just managed to get the sheet over them. Anakin cuddled up to him and murmured an “I love you,” but before Obi-Wan could work through the knee-jerk reaction of mild discomfort to return the declaration, Anakin had already drifted off to sleep. Obi-Wan smiled and kissed the top of his head before falling asleep himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They’re finally going to be together again! I had some of the Naboo plotline worked out months ago, so I’m excited that we’re almost there.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Padmé-centric chapter, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but then the story would’ve gotten a little too political. All things related to Naboo are just part of my own worldbuilding since there’s really not a whole lot in canon to work off of.
> 
> Also, holy shit, this thing is over 100k. I did _not_ expect that when I started writing this story.

Padmé left for Naboo early in the morning, and even though she thought she’d gotten a decent amount of sleep the night before, she still felt exhausted. Much to her handmaidens’ delight, she ended up sleeping for most of the journey. At least it made time go by quicker.

As soon as they left hyperspace, Padmé checked her holocomm for messages and found that she had two, one from Ahsoka and one from Obi-Wan.

_“I got your message. My schedule is a little hectic right now, but please don’t worry about me. I’m doing better.”_

Padmé would decide for herself if she had anything to worry about after she spoke with her.

_“Hello, Padmé. I gather you must be on your way to Naboo. We’ll also be out of contact for some time, but I wanted to thank you for the push.”_

She had no idea what he was talking about until he winked. Then she laughed a bit louder than she meant to. “Well, it was about time.”

Not long after that, Padmé was finally back home. Since she’d barely spent any time on Naboo for so long, she’d come to think of the entire planet as home. She missed its beauty, and she missed being around people in a crowded city who weren’t always rushing from place to place. Naboo was nothing like Coruscant.

As requested, Padmé met with Queen Neeyutnee before she did anything else. She had nothing against the queen for essentially forcing her out of her job. She understood that it really wasn’t the queen’s fault. It was just the nature of their society, which was exactly what Neeyutnee told her.

“I am sorry, Padmé. I wish it didn’t have to be like this.”

She smiled, and it was only a little forced. “It’s alright. I need a break anyway. I haven’t truly had one in well over a decade.”

Neeyutnee bowed her head slightly. “I thank you for your service. May the gods look upon you with mercy.”

“And you, my queen,” she replied, bowing at the waist.

Her parents’ house wasn’t far from the palace, but she decided to visit her sister first. She could get an idea of what to expect from them by asking Sola. Padmé told her handmaidens to go ahead to Varykino, which was where she would be staying until she had the baby since it was the least stressful environment to be in.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Dormé asked.

“Don’t worry. They’ve had enough time to get over it.” She knew what Dormé was actually referring to, but it was easier to just pretend that she wasn’t a mess of hormones. At least with the rest she’d gotten, she shouldn’t pass out again.

Padmé took a moment to stare at Sola’s house and let herself feel a little jealous. Her sister had a family and a real home, her life free of the kinds of complications Padmé would probably have to deal with for the rest of her own life. It wasn’t that Padmé regretted marrying Anakin or getting involved with Obi-Wan, but she had her tiny moments of wishing everything could just fall into place without the drama. Both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan had joked with her that Anakin was a drama magnet, but Padmé would never want that to change because that would mean Anakin wouldn’t be who he was. She did want him to get professional help, though. Really, they _all_ needed it.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she walked up to the door and knocked. She could tell by the pounding of footsteps that she would be greeted by one of her nieces first. Sure enough, when the door opened, Pooja nearly screamed in delight.

“Auntie Padmé! You’re really here!”

Padmé knelt down to give her a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Pooja.”

As soon as her niece nearly dragged her inside, Sola appeared with Ryoo in tow. “I wasn’t expecting you so soon.” Sola enveloped her in a tight hug, and that was when Padmé realized just how much she’d missed her family. “Didn’t you just get here?” she asked after they separated.

“I did. But since I’m going to be staying at Varykino for a while, I thought I’d pay everyone a visit while I’m in Theed.” Technically, Sola lived just outside of Theed, and it would be a lot of backtracking to get to their parents’ house, but Padmé didn’t care. It was less stressful for her to do it that way. “Hello, Ryoo.” She smiled when the girl hid behind Sola’s leg. She was always a bit shy at first. “How are you, Sola? I know we haven’t talked in some time.”

“I’m fine.” She led Padmé to the backyard where Pooja went to what looked like a chest of toys. “I had to fend off a couple reporters soon after you revealed your big secret, but once they realized I actually didn’t know anything, they left me alone.”

Padmé cringed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Once Ryoo went after her sister, Sola whispered, “The girls were very excited about having a Jedi for an uncle.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle at that. They hadn’t gotten a chance to meet Anakin, but she knew they would love him.

Then Pooja called them over, and they played a game Padmé remembered from her childhood. All Padmé could think about throughout the game was raising her child. She didn’t know the first thing about parenting, but she was good with children, and now that she had the time, she would start reading about the dos and don’ts of parenthood. Obi-Wan would have a blast doing research on parenting since there was so much to learn. He’d probably make charts about what to expect at every stage of a child’s life.

But she had no idea how he would react to her pregnancy. It was the only reason she wasn’t going to tell Sola about Obi-Wan just yet. If he decided it was too much and left, it was better to just not say anything and pretend he’d never been involved, as much as that would pain her. Padmé assumed he didn’t leave in her old timeline because they’d been together for a longer period of time, and he wasn’t going to abandon her after everything went to hell.

Padmé hated keeping secrets from her sister. She couldn’t even tell her she was pregnant since she still wanted to tell Anakin and Obi-Wan first. Padmé longed for the days when they would tell each other their hopes and fears. They used to be able to rely on one another for just about anything, but then they grew up, and Padmé became a queen. As soon as she was able, Padmé would tell Sola everything she’d been keeping from her, minus the fact that she was from the future. That would be a little too much, especially since Sola would want to know how she died, and Padmé just couldn’t tell her about what happened with Anakin. That wouldn’t be fair to him.

After the game was done, Sola took Padmé back inside and watched the girls play through the window. “I’m curious as to why Anakin isn’t with you.”

She had been waiting for that to come up. “He’ll be arriving soon.” Padmé hoped Sola wouldn’t ask for details. The less lies she had to tell her sister the better.

Sola didn’t look impressed, but at least she let it go. “Mother and Father are still unhappy with you, but it would help if Anakin also apologized for keeping such a secret.”

“Of course.” She had been planning to get Anakin to do that anyway. “And we can have the Newlywed Feast, even though it’ll be two years late.”

The Feast was one of those traditions that had managed to stick around throughout the centuries. It was organized and paid for by the family who had a higher social standing, but it was held in the other family’s home. Of course, exceptions were made if one of the newlyweds was an offworlder, or one of the families didn’t approve of the marriage. Padmé’s parents might not even want to bother with having the Feast, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it up. Anakin would probably want to invite Obi-Wan along as a “friend” just so he wouldn’t have to suffer alone.

Sola reached out to give Padmé’s arm a squeeze. “Are you happy?”

She smiled, knowing that her sister meant if she was happy with Anakin. “I am.”

“So he treats you well?”

“He does. You have nothing to worry about.”

Then Sola pulled her into a hug and sighed. “Promise me you’ll visit more often.”

Padmé thought how nice it was to hug someone who was nearly the same height as her, which almost made her laugh. What a silly thing to be thinking in that moment. “I promise.”

She left soon after to go to her parents’ house, which she was still dreading. Padmé hoped they would come around eventually. She would like for them to have a place in her child’s life, but if they refused to treat Anakin with respect . . . And then there was Obi-Wan, if he chose to stay. It was a very delicate situation, and while she could handle politics with ease, family matters were an entirely different story.

“Oh, Padmé, it’s so wonderful to see you,” her mother said as she drew her into a quick hug.

Padmé hadn’t been hugged so many times in a single day in many years.

She was rushed into the reading room where she greeted her father. It was strange to be in that room again. It was where she’d done most of her studying to become a great political leader. _And now I have no place in politics._

“Where’s Anakin?” her father asked casually.

Padmé wasn’t fooled. She could tell he wanted to rip into Anakin. Her father still thought of her as his little girl who needed to be protected. It was sweet, but at the same time, she was a grown woman who was more than capable of protecting herself.

“He’ll be here in a few days.” Padmé sat next to her father on the couch and was hit with a brief wave of nausea. Thankfully, it passed quickly enough that neither of her parents were aware that Padmé thought she’d throw up in her lap. “He just had a few loose ends to tie up before he resigned from the Order.”

“He’s resigning?” her mother asked. She sounded pleased, which wasn’t shocking.

Couples were expected to start having, or adopting, children right away. The person who was lower on the social ladder was expected to take leave of their job for at least the first two years of the marriage to stay at home and raise said children. It was a custom Padmé never agreed with since she thought it should be a joint effort, and it could still be done while both people worked. There was also the risk of the person who had to leave their job becoming reliant on their spouse, which could lead to all sorts of problems. And then there was the fact that not every couple wanted children that quickly or even wanted them at all.

“Well, it’s out that he’s married, so he can’t stay, but he’d planned on resigning after the war was over. We would like to start a family.”

That, at least, seemed to mollify her parents. They’d been wanting her to settle down, much to her irritation. It was as if being the queen should have been enough. She’d done her duty for her people, so it was time to get married and have children. They knew that being politically active made Padmé happy, but they thought that she would come to enjoy motherhood even more.

“You should stay for lunch,” her mother said.

Merely the thought of food caused her stomach to churn. “I’m sorry, but I’m quite exhausted. I just didn’t want to go to Varykino without seeing you first. I’ll come back tomorrow, and then we can chat.”

“Come back with Anakin,” her father said, which translated to “don’t come back unless he’s with you.”

She stopped herself from sighing and nodded.

Once she got to Varykino, Padmé slept for a few hours, but she was woken by the urgent need to vomit, and she barely made it to the fresher in enough time. Moteé rushed to her side, saying she was coming in to check on her at Dormé’s request.

“I’m fine,” Padmé said with a smile she knew wasn’t very convincing. “It’s probably just stress.” She hoped her handmaidens would understand why she didn’t want to tell them about her pregnancy right away.

There was no going back to sleep after that, so Padmé spent the rest of the day going through Senate news. Even though she was no longer in the Senate, she still wanted to keep herself up to date with the Reconstruction, as they were calling it. Having been in the political world for a good majority of her life, Padmé would always want to be informed as to what was going on with the Republic. She had some catching up to do with Nabooian politics as well.

Around dinner time, Dormé brought her a small bowl of tochil soup, which was bland enough that it shouldn’t upset her stomach.

“The nausea will pass,” Dormé said. “I did a little research.”

Padmé thanked her, but she didn’t say that no amount of research was going to help since the Force was too involved. She really had no idea what to expect.

Two days later, Padmé’s stomach had finally calmed down enough where she could eat actual meals. She’d been wondering if resigning was the right choice, but with having to deal with everything the pregnancy was throwing at her, she was more than glad to be home than on Coruscant.

She still hadn’t heard anything from Anakin or Obi-Wan, and neither of them picked up when she tried comming them so they were probably in hyperspace. Padmé wished she knew what their destination had been. She didn’t know where Ahsoka had ended up either, so she couldn’t check the time, but she decided to take a chance and pushed the button for her frequency.

It didn’t take long for her to pick up. _“Hi, Padmé!”_ She sounded quite energetic, so it was unlikely that she’d been asleep. _“How are you?”_

“I’m good. How about you?”

_“Also good, just very busy. My last shift ended a little while ago. Since the initial crisis period is over, the government will start the rebuilding process.”_

“So the job went well?”

Ahsoka nodded. _“As a first job, it wasn’t bad. It was nice to be able to help people.”_

“I’m glad that you had something to distract yourself with.”

Ahsoka looked at her in silence before saying, _“I guess Anakin told you about my outburst then.”_ She seemed a little annoyed, like maybe Anakin wasn’t supposed to have told Padmé.

“Please don’t be angry with him. He was distressed because Obi-Wan had been shutting him out ever since.”

She winced. _“I realized afterward that what I’d said might have upset Obi-Wan.”_

Padmé shook her head. “It’s fine. They worked through it.” Except Obi-Wan was still falling back into the old habit of repression. It would probably take years for him to stop doing that, if he ever could. “And how have you been doing since that ‘outburst’?”

Ahsoka shrugged and leaned back against something. _“After getting it all out, I feel better.”_

“You know, you can always talk to me, especially if you’re worried about how Anakin or Obi-Wan would react. I may not understand what you’re going through, but I’ll offer you support in whatever way I can, even if it’s just as someone who’s will listen.”

 _“Thank you, Padmé,”_ she said quietly, smiling a little, _“but I know you have your own worries.”_

“Who doesn’t nowadays? I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t serious. You’ve helped me, so let me return the favor.”

Eventually, Ahsoka nodded, her smile growing wider. _“But I really am okay for the moment. I told the friend I’m staying with what had happened, while leaving out a few details. Steela got me to open up initially, so that’s been the biggest help.”_

That name sounded familiar to Padmé, but she decided not to ask. It was a relief to know that the person Ahsoka was staying with was also trying to help her. “You’re welcome to come to Naboo, as that’s where we’ll be staying for quite some time. Anakin and Obi-Wan are currently on their way here.”

_“I thought that’s where you’d all end up. I’m glad you’ll be together again, but won’t it be risky?”_

“My handmaidens and guards are aware of the situation, so they’ll stay quiet about it, and Mace informed me that the Jedi had already looking on Naboo.”

Ahsoka’s brow-markings shot up. _“Master Windu really did that?”_

“It seems like he might be on our side, or at least he’s seriously considering taking our side.” Her holocomm beeped suddenly to inform her that someone else was trying to contact her. “Oh, it’s Anakin.”

_“Then I’ll let you go.”_

“And if you ever need to talk . . . ”

Chuckling, Ahsoka rolled her eyes. _“I’ll comm you. Bye, Padmé.”_

“Goodbye, Ahsoka.” She disconnected and quickly picked up the call from Anakin before he got too nervous as to why she wasn’t answering. “Hi, Ani.”

His face immediately broke out into a grin. _“Hi, Angel.”_ For him to be using that nickname, he must be in an exceptionally good mood. _“We just passed through the Core, so we should be there in another few days.”_

Padmé smiled back at him. A few days was what she’d been figuring, but she had a feeling those days would seem like months, which was usually the case when she knew she’d get to see her lovers soon. “I’m so relieved to hear that. Where are you coming from anyway?”

_“Serenno.”_

That wasn’t what she was expecting, but she supposed no one would think to look for them there. Dooku was always a sore spot for Anakin since his first encounter with the man had made him feel like such a failure, so going to his homeworld would seem unlikely.

“Are the two of you fighting, or is it better this time?”

 _“It’s a lot better now,”_ he said, smiling shyly. _“Of course, we do still fight—we probably always will—but it’s never serious, and the fights last no more than a few minutes.”_

Padmé thought that maybe their relationship was healthier than it had been in the other timeline. While they had opened up to each other in her old life, it obviously hadn’t been enough because Palpatine still got into Anakin’s head.

“Aw, my boys have grown up.”

Anakin laughed. _“I can’t wait to see you.”_

“And I can’t wait to see you. Where’s Obi-Wan?”

 _“He’s taking a nap._ _I think I wore him out.”_

Padmé remembered her and Obi-Wan complaining about Anakin’s never-ending supply of energy, and they decided to gang up on him one of the few times they all shared a bed. They wouldn’t let him have release for a full hour, and afterward, Anakin had been dead to the world for nearly an entire day. During that time of peace and quiet, she had a lovely conversation with Obi-Wan over some tea. She’d actually managed to get him to talk about his childhood and his apprenticeship under Qui-Gon. It was a memory she looked back on fondly.

“Have you docked at midnight?” she asked as though she was discussing the weather.

 _“Padmé!”_ Being familiar with most Nabooian slang in relation to sex—he’d been somewhat fascinated by how many phrases there were for sexual acts—he looked absolutely scandalized.

She smiled at him innocently in return. “What? I’m just curious. I know it took you two a bit to get to that point in the old timeline.” Padmé had no shame, but Anakin would get embarrassed rather easily, especially outside of the bedroom. She thought it was cute.

Anakin’s gaze traveled upward as he hunched his shoulders a little. _“No, we haven’t. Our ship’s not exactly the best place for that, and we don’t have any . . . lubricant.”_ If the holo was in full color, Padmé expected to see him blushing profusely.

Deciding to take mercy on him, she changed the subject. “I was talking with Ahsoka just before I picked up your call. She’s doing better. I invited her to Naboo, but I think she’ll be staying wherever she is for a while.”

Embarrassment forgotten, he grinned and said, _“Ahsoka is staying with her crush on Onderon.”_

Padmé didn’t think it mattered that she knew where Ahsoka was since the Council was really just after Anakin, so she didn’t chastise him for the location name. “That’s why the name Steela sounded familiar. She was part of the rebellion you helped, wasn’t she?”

He nodded. _“She was the leader of the group.”_

“Well, good for Ahsoka. I hope it works out between them.”

_“I do, too, even though I miss her. Hey, have you seen your parents yet?”_

Padmé cringed. “I have. Be prepared to meet with them when you get here. They’re still not happy about me keeping our marriage a secret, but you apologizing to them might help.”

He made a face like he’d bit into something sour. _“That’s going to be fun.”_ Then he sighed, running a hand through his hair. _“We should go back into hyperspace. I just wanted to let you know how close we are.”_

“I appreciate that. I love you, Ani.”

_“I love you, too.”_

As soon as they disconnected, Padmé started bawling. She missed them both, but not so much that she’d start crying like that. She really hated having mood swings.

Dormé quickly came into the room and knelt down beside her chair.

“I’m-I’m fine.” Padmé wiped at her face with her sleeve only to have new tears stream down her cheeks. “It’s just these s-stupid hormones.”

“Please, I beg you to get checked out by a midwife.”

Even with all the technology they had, midwives were still popular in many parts of Naboo. Padmé always did prefer the care of a sentient being over a med droid.

“Alright.”

She sighed in obvious relief. “I’ve already found one who is very good at discretion.”

After taking a few deep breaths, Padmé felt herself begin to calm down. Looking at her friend with gratitude, she accepted the offered facial tissue. “What would I do without you, Dormé?”

Dormé smiled. “I think you would manage.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In order to keep to my weekly update schedule, I had to stop here, even though I really want to post their reunion. That will be for next week.


	18. Chapter 18

By the time Anakin went back into the cargo hold, Obi-Wan was awake, but he was still quite groggy. It usually did take him a few minutes to stop looking half dead. Anakin plopped down next to him. “I spoke with Padmé, so she knows when to expect us. She said I have to meet with her parents when we get there.”

Obi-Wan sat up and rubbed at his face. “Just you?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t worry,” he said as he patted Anakin’s back. “I’ll only say good things about you at your funeral.”

He shoved Obi-Wan playfully. “She’ll have tell her parents about you at some point, and they’ll be even angrier that she’s kept two men a secret, so you’ll have it worse than me.”

Obi-Wan merely blinked at him before he got to his feet. “I’m going to use the sonic shower.”

He bit his bottom lip as he watched Obi-Wan walk to the fresher, not bothering to cover himself. Anakin had only gotten dressed in case someone was in the room when Padmé answered. It was funny to him because Obi-Wan used to be very modest, but after the first time they slept together, he stopped caring entirely. Anakin didn’t mind at all.

Artoo beeped at him, asking if they were ever going back to the Temple.

It almost seemed like Artoo _wanted_ to go back. Did he have some droid friends he didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to? “I can’t see it going well if we did. I’m curious about what happened after we left, though.”

Maybe nothing had changed at all. Anakin found it strange that he almost missed the Order sometimes. He guessed that he just missed being around other Force-sensitives, and it wasn’t like every single Jedi had looked at him with suspicion. By the time he turned 17, most Jedi at least treated him well to his face. Anakin could actually pretend they were his friends.

He put a hand on Artoo’s dome. “I don’t think we can ever return to the Temple, buddy.”

It took three more days to reach Naboo, and it felt like the longest three days of Anakin’s life. The anticipation had made him a little snippy, which in turn had made Obi-Wan quite moody. They still didn’t do well together in such cramped conditions, but instead of having shouting matches like before, they gave each other the silent treatment. Anakin couldn’t keep that up for very long, though, and he hated being on Obi-Wan’s bad side, so he decided to ease the tension by getting on his knees. He needed a lot of practice, but Obi-Wan certainly hadn’t complained.

The closer they got to the spaceport in Theed, the harder it was for Anakin to keep still. Even just sitting in the pilot’s chair, his right leg kept bouncing. Obi-Wan was constantly giving him odd looks, but Anakin knew it was because he’d never seen him like that. Anakin had always tried to keep his excitement in check, no matter what it was about, but he didn’t feel the need to hide himself from Obi-Wan like he used to.

Although he wanted to fly directly to where Padmé was rather than go to the spaceport, he knew that would draw attention to them. “Can you comm Padmé to see where we should go after we land?”

“I thought she already told you,” Obi-Wan said as he punched her frequency into the ship’s holo communicator.

Padmé answered almost immediately. _“Please tell me you’re on Naboo.”_

“We’re almost at the spaceport. Where are you?”

_“The place where my life changed forever.”_

Anakin smiled. “She means she’s at Varykino, in the Lake Country. It’s where we got married.” He had a feeling that was where she’d ended up. Anakin hadn’t been there since the ceremony, so it would be nice to go back.

_“I’ll see you soon!”_

She disconnected before either of them could reply.

Once they were ready to go, Artoo rolled out from his corner, beeping happily about being able to leave the ship because he was _not_ staying when they were on the world where he was built. Anakin was surprised that Artoo had something akin to nostalgia for his homeworld. It wasn’t like Artoo ever talked about Naboo.

“What’s wrong?” Anakin asked upon seeing Obi-Wan hesitate in exiting the ship.

“Any time I come to Naboo, I can’t help but think about . . . ” He shook his head. “We should find an air taxi,” he said with a small smile. “I’m sure Padmé has enough speeders, so we don’t need to buy one.”

Anakin bumped their shoulders together as they walked through the port to register their ship. He wanted to tell Obi-Wan that it was okay to still feel grief, even after so many years had passed, but he knew it wouldn’t do Obi-Wan any good. Anakin always hated that part of Jedi teachings the most, having to forget your past. Padmé told him that a person was shaped by their past. Despite the many scoldings from his teachers, Anakin could never forget his upbringing as a slave. It was a part of him, and it always would be.

It was a quiet ride, with the exception of Artoo’s excited chirping from his spot at the back of the taxi, and Anakin couldn’t stop grinning the whole way to the Lake Country. Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin’s knee at one point to stop his leg from bouncing. Anakin hadn’t even realized he was doing it again.

 _I’m afraid you might simply explode when you finally see her,_ he sent through their bond.

Anakin just beamed at him.

To try to keep a low profile, they decided not to take the air taxi directly to Varykino, so they walked for about 20 minutes before they could see the island. Obi-Wan had been smart enough to look at a map back at the spaceport so that they’d know how to get there. Again, they didn’t talk much. Anakin was too excited to hold a proper conversation, and Obi-Wan seemed rather pensive anyway.

They took a gondola speeder to the island, which brought back memories, but since Artoo wouldn’t fit, he flew there instead. They were greeted by one of Padmé’s handmaidens when they docked. Anakin thought her name was Dormé, but he wasn’t very good at remembering who was who when it came to her handmaidens.

“Padmé isn’t feeling her best today, so please be mindful of that.”

Anakin was instantly worried, and he could sense Obi-Wan’s concern. “Is she ill?” She seemed fine over the holo.

“No.”

But she didn’t elaborate.

He wished Dormé would walk faster. Once they were finally inside the retreat, Anakin stopped following her since he could just find Padmé by reaching out into the Force. Her Force signature was like a beacon to him. He rushed into what appeared to be a sitting room, Obi-Wan close behind, and he was so overcome with happiness upon seeing her in person that his eyes watered with unshed tears.

Padmé smiled and slowly got up from the lounge as he ran over to her, but he stopped himself from spinning her around at the last second since she really did look unwell. Still, Anakin pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and he relaxed when she put her hands on either side of his face. After nearly a month without being in her presence, he couldn’t believe she was really there in his arms. He didn’t want to let her go.

“Are you alright?” he asked after they finally separated.

“I’m fine. It’s just a little nausea.”

When Padmé looked behind him, he realized that he had completely forgotten that Obi-Wan was in the room. Obi-Wan had turned his head away, no doubt feeling a little awkward.

“Hello,” Padmé said as she held her hand out to him.

He hesitated at first, but then he walked over and took her hand in his. He apparently expected her to pull him into a hug because he didn’t look startled at all. “You seem tired.”

“I haven’t been getting much sleep lately,” she confessed.

Then she directed them to the curved sofa, probably so that they could all see each other without any of them having to lean forward. Padmé looked nervous, which was making Anakin think there really was something wrong, but before he could ask, she said the words he thought he wouldn’t hear for at least another few years.

“I’m pregnant.”

***

She watched them for their reactions.

“That’s wonderful, Padmé!” Anakin exclaimed after he got over his shock.

She was briefly taken back to a different time when that excitement was mixed with fear and uncertainty. But Anakin looked genuinely happy, and she focused on him to see if she could sense what he was feeling. She’d been testing her Force abilities the past few days, but since she had no idea what she was doing, she’d had no success. However, with Anakin, joy was practically radiating from him. It was strange, being able to feel an emotion that she knew wasn’t her own.

Obi-Wan reacted the same way he had in her old timeline, forced smile and fear in his eyes, but when she focused on him, she was hit with a slowly building panic.

“And I’m somehow Force-sensitive.”

Anakin’s eyes widened. “How is that even possible?”

“It must have happened when the Force brought me back from the dead. Maybe it was supposed to help me?” She shrugged. “I didn’t even find out until Yoda probed me against my will. He said my Force sensitivity is very mild.”

“He did _what_?” Anakin shouted, his hands clenched into fists.

Considering she wasn’t trying to sense anything from Anakin, Padmé was startled by the sharp wave of fury. She’d seen him angry multiple times, but actually feeling it made a shiver go down her spine. She wondered why she hadn’t felt his anger when he fought Palpatine. Maybe the pregnancy was enhancing her sensitivity.

“I knew that little troll would try to hurt you!”

“Anakin, calm down,” Obi-Wan said. He was clearly angry as well, but Padmé could barely feel it. “Probing doesn’t actually cause any harm.” He turned to Padmé as the anger drained from his face. “He should not have done that without your permission. It’s a lot less uncomfortable if you’re prepared for it. Being suddenly Force-sensitive, do you feel any different?”

She shook her head. “But it _is_ making my pregnancy more difficult.” They both looked alarmed. “I only meant that my symptoms are amplified,” she said, holding up her hands placatingly. “The pregnancy itself is going just fine.”

“Can I touch your stomach?” Anakin asked a bit shyly.

She laughed. “It’s much too early to feel anything.”

“I’d like to anyway.”

Padmé nodded, and he scooted closer to her before resting his hand flat against her abdomen. “I’m going to be a father,” he whispered in awe, and Padmé brought him down for a quick kiss. “We’re finally going to have the family we always wanted.”

Then Obi-Wan stood abruptly, a polite smile on his face that she knew was just a mask, but she couldn’t sense anything from him when she concentrated. “Congratulations, Padmé.” And he walked out after a quick bow.

The fear she sensed from Anakin was nearly overwhelming, but she stopped him before he got up. “Let Obi-Wan have some time to think.”

Anakin stared at the doorway for a moment, but then he nodded and focused back on her.

“We need to talk about the future.” When he leaned away from her, hurt flashing through his eyes, she realized that he’d misunderstood. “I don’t mean the future I lived. I don’t expect any of that to happen. I meant we need to talk about _our_ future. I know you’ll be a great father, but you really need to work on your anger issues. And then there’s dealing with the 12 years of abuse by Palpatine.” When he looked away from her with such anguish, she almost wished she hadn’t brought that up. “Once we all get settled, you should really start talking to someone. I can help you find a counselor.”

“I’ll think about it,” he said quietly. “What are you going to do after the baby is born since you can’t go back into politics?”

Padmé sat closer to him so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know. I’ve been involved with politics in some form since I was eight years old.” He wrapped an arm around her, causing her to sigh in contentment. “I want to focus on raising the baby for at least the first few months, so between now and then, I’m sure I’ll come up with something.”

“I’ll support whatever you decide, Padmé,” he said as he gave her a light squeeze.

“Thank you. But what about you, Ani? What do you want to do now that you’re no longer a Jedi?”

“I don’t know, but I hate feeling on edge all the time since I’m still being hunted. I can’t hide forever, and it wouldn’t be fair to our child.”

Padmé agreed, but she wasn’t sure what it would take for the Jedi to let him go. Perhaps something could be arranged with Mace. She knew she should tell Anakin about Mace wanting to speak with him, but Padmé wanted to be selfish for a little while. She’d bring it up after she got to spend some time with her lovers.

“Oh, I don’t want to forget,” Anakin said as he pulled away from her slightly. He reached into his pocket and took out a necklace. “I got this for you on Socorro. Just don’t tell Obi-Wan where it came from. I was supposed to only be buying supplies.”

“Thank you, Ani. It’s beautiful.” She put it on and gave him a kiss. It was sweet of him to be thinking of her at such a time. “Now why don’t we go find Obi-Wan? I think his shields are up, but can you sense where he is?”

Anakin looked impressed. “Even with them up, I can get his location.”

He took Padmé by the hand and led her outside. Sure enough, Obi-Wan was sitting on the grass by the lake’s edge. They sat on either side of him, and Anakin clearly had something he wanted to say, but she’d told him to let Obi-Wan talk first.

“I understand,” Obi-Wan said eventually, staring straight ahead.

“Understand what?” Padmé asked.

“That you and Anakin will want to raise your child together like a normal family.”

Padmé felt a dull pain in her heart when she realized what he was thinking. His panic from earlier wasn’t just about the prospect of being a father. It was also about being pushed away. After leaving the Order, which she knew he thought of as a family of sorts, he must have felt some comfort in the knowledge that he still had Anakin and Padmé, but now he thought he’d be completely alone.

She decided to play dumb because she knew from experience that confronting his emotions head on wasn’t always the best tactic. “Obi-Wan, there’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ family. I know this is unexpected, but both of us would be very happy if you stayed.”

Obi-Wan’s mask slipped briefly, and Padmé saw his relief before he said, “I don’t think I can be a parent.”

“Why not?”

“I have no idea what to do with an infant.”

“We don’t either,” Anakin spoke up.

Padmé wanted to reach out to Obi-Wan, but she knew it would only be for her own comfort, not his. “We can figure it out together. No one actually knows what they’re doing at first, but having an extra person would help a great deal. Besides, just think about all the research you’d get to do.”

After a long silence, through which Anakin got very fidgety, Obi-Wan turned to look at her. “I would like to stay,” he said softly.

While Anakin pulled him into a sideways embrace, Padmé kissed his cheek and took his hand in hers. She actually had no idea what his decision would be, and she was so glad that he wasn’t going to try to deny himself happiness.

They went back inside to eat dinner, which was a small affair since her handmaidens hadn’t been given much notice that there would be more mouths to feed that night. Padmé had long given up trying to help them cook. They just wanted her to rest. Dormé was the only one who knew the reason for her “poor health,” so the rest of them assumed she had overworked herself and that it was finally catching up with her.

Obi-Wan seemed to be relaxed, and Anakin couldn’t stop smiling. It almost didn’t feel real that they were sitting there with her. Luckily, her nausea was taking a break, so she could actually enjoy their company. She still didn’t eat a lot, though, in case she would end up vomiting later. Padmé really hoped that wouldn’t last for the duration of her pregnancy.

Afterward, Padmé took them to the balcony where she and Anakin had gotten married. The sun had already gone down, so the sky was bright with stars. As she looked up at them, Anakin wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her temple.

“I’ve never been happier,” he whispered into her ear.

She turned her head to give him a kiss on his cheek before she looked over at Obi-Wan. Even after so much time had passed, she still wasn’t sure how he felt about them being married, which was why she brought them there. “How are you doing?”

He was obviously surprised by the question. “I’m fine.” After she continued to stare at him, he sighed and rested his hands on top of the balustrade. “Both of you could have told me sooner about your marriage. I would have been annoyed at first, but with the war going on, happiness was a rarity, and all I wanted for Anakin was to be happy.”

Padmé patted Anakin’s arms so that he’d let her go, and she walked up to Obi-Wan. “We know that now, but you have to understand that we were afraid you would tell the Council.”

“We both wanted to tell you at different times for that first year and a half,” Anakin said as stood behind Obi-Wan, “but neither of us could work up the nerve to do it until I _had_ to tell you.”

“It doesn’t really matter now, though” Padmé said.

Artoo, who had disappeared sometime during dinner, rolled onto the balcony and let out a series of beeps. Padmé and Obi-Wan looked to Anakin for a translation.

“He asked if we’d like to watch the footage.”

Obi-Wan frowned. “What footage?”

Anakin laughed nervously and backed away from them a bit. “We had Artoo record the ceremony.”

Obi-Wan stared at him with wide eyes. “You mean to tell me,” he said slowly, “that you actually thought it was a good idea to have that kind of secret in your droid’s memory banks for two years? Why am I even surprised?”

Padmé covered her face with her hand. She had told Anakin to transfer the footage to a disk, but of course he kept it with Artoo. Since the droid was with him for most of the war, Anakin probably wanted to be able to watch it to keep his spirits up.

“Play it, Artoo,” Anakin said quickly.

She hadn’t actually seen it before, and as she watched the two of them kiss for the first time as husband and wife, her annoyance melted away. She smiled at Anakin, who smiled back and brushed his hand against hers. After it was over, Padmé looked at Obi-Wan to see his reaction, and he was frowning deeply with his arms crossed.

“I can’t believe you got married in your Jedi robes, Anakin. Not only was that a huge risk, but Padmé wore a beautiful dress, and you didn’t even bother to wear something nice for the occasion?”

Padmé burst out laughing because that was not at all what she expected Obi-Wan to say, but she saw a twinkle in his eyes that meant he was only teasing.

Whether or not he knew Obi-Wan wasn’t actually being serious, Anakin’s face went bright red. “What else was I going to wear? It wasn’t like Padmé had men’s clothing lying around.”

Obi-Wan smiled at Anakin, and it seemed like something passed between them. He must have sent a thought or a feeling through their bond. Once Anakin’s posture relaxed, Obi-Wan said, “I still think you shouldn’t have rushed into it, but it’s not like I’m an expert on that sort of thing. And I know it was mostly because you and Padmé were afraid that you’d die in the war. At least that’s not a worry any of us have to have now.”

Padmé gave Obi-Wan a kiss before turning to Anakin and doing the same. She could tell what he wanted by the way he was looking at her, and it was something that had been on her mind for at least the past hour, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it with Obi-Wan there. She doubted he was ready to be invited into their bed, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“I think it’s time we retire for the night. Would you care to join us, Obi-Wan?” A small smile on her lips, she raised her eyebrows, hoping he would understand what she meant.

“Ah, I think I’m much too exhausted for that,” he said politely.

As they walked inside, Artoo rolling behind them, she took hold of Anakin’s hand and linked their fingers together. “I had one of the guest rooms set up for you, just in case,” she said to Obi-Wan, “and there are some clothes that should fit you in the closet.”

Both of them shot her a surprised look.

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said.

She stopped in front of her bedroom door. “Thank Moteé. She’s the one who did the shopping. I think she was quite excited to go into Theed because she came back with a lot more than just clothes. We have so much fruit right now.” She tried not to laugh as she remembered seeing the bags of various foods that were native to Naboo. Moteé looked so guilty that Padmé just gave her a hug and told her she had missed it all, too. “That’s your room,” she said as she pointed to the door across from her own.

“Then this is goodnight.”

She reached out and gave his arm a squeeze. “Goodnight, Obi-Wan.”

Padmé could tell Anakin wanted to drag Obi-Wan into her bedroom with them, but he simply said goodnight back.

Once they were in her room, Anakin told Artoo to go to sleep and muttered something about not wanting to be interrupted again. They were quick to remove each other’s clothes, and Padmé was struck by just how desperately she wanted him, but then he slowed her down, causing her to bite back a groan.

“Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to be doing this?”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re asking that _now_?”

“Okay, but it won’t hurt the baby, right?”

She didn’t really have the patience at the moment, but she still appreciated the fact that he was checking. “Anakin, the baby isn’t even a baby yet. It’s smaller than a fingernail.”

He kissed her gently while massaging the back of her head, a habit he’d gotten into since her various hairstyles tended to pull on her scalp. “I just wanted to be sure.”

“Even when I’m huge, the baby will be fine,” she said as she pushed him onto the bed. “And you better not say ‘no’ because you’re worried. I was a little sex-crazed the last time, and since my symptoms are much worse with this pregnancy, I’ll be practically starving for you when I reach a certain point.” She hoped Obi-Wan would be on board by then.

Eyes wide, Anakin reached up for her, and she crushed their mouths together. Padmé missed him so much, and it was a relief when they finally joined. But she was right in that Anakin’s emotions were stronger than most people’s because she was beginning to feel a mixture of adoration and euphoria without having to concentrate. The sensation was giving her a headache, which only got worse as he became more lost in their love making. If that was what Obi-Wan felt from Anakin, then she didn’t blame him for panicking about it. Eventually, it was too much. She stopped moving and tried to keep her discomfort from showing, but the intensity of the sensation was making it hard to breathe.

“Padmé, what’s wrong?” Anakin asked as he sat up.

“Just . . . just stop.” The anxiety she was now feeling from him definitely wasn’t helping.

“Stop what? What am I doing?”

“Put your shields up.” She instantly felt better, and she could see the exact moment when he realized what had happened.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.

Padmé got off of him and lied down. “It’s not your fault, Anakin. You can’t help the way you are.”

He lied down on his side, facing her, and tentatively stroked her cheek.

“I have a lot of empathy for Obi-Wan right now.”

Anakin’s face turned a bit pink at that. “You told me that I can be very intense,” he reminded her.

She placed her hand over his and smiled. “As long as you keep your shields up, I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t think I can do that during sex, but I can try.” He looked away for a moment before he moved his hand to her thigh. “I can use my mouth, if you want. I’d like for you to get something out of this.”

Although Padmé was tempted—oh, the things he could do with his tongue—her enthusiasm had died completely, and she was left feeling drained. “Thank you for the offer, but let’s just get some sleep.”

Anakin almost looked like he was about to argue, but he simply got up so that he could pull the comforter and sheet back while she did the same. After the lights were out, they snuggled up together under the covers. Padmé tried not to think about what it would mean for their relationship, but if Obi-Wan could get over it somehow, then so could she.

She was just glad to have both of them back with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So things are going to be domestic for a while. I think they deserve a break.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt like updating a little early this week, which I’ll probably do next week as well because of the holiday.
> 
> Content warning for references to sexual slavery and child sexual slavery.

Obi-Wan woke up after only sleeping for maybe a couple of hours. He wanted to blame it on not being in sync with this part of Naboo’s cycle yet, but he knew it was because he couldn’t stop thinking. A quick meditation session hadn’t even helped. While he was glad that Padmé and Anakin weren’t going to discard him, he still wasn’t sure about being a father. Granted, Anakin would actually be the child’s father, not him. Obi-Wan had no idea how it worked with three people. He tried imagining himself as a parent, and he realized that he knew absolutely nothing beyond the basics of child-rearing. His reliance on the Jedi Code wasn’t going to help matters since he knew without asking that Anakin would refuse to teach his child any part of the Code. Obi-Wan himself understood that certain aspects of it weren’t exactly healthy. Unless he did a _lot_ of research, he would be such an inadequate parent, so he had to use the coming months wisely.

After he took a shower in a refresher that was much too ornate for a guest room, he opened the closet doors and laughed at his new clothes, which were all in various shades of brown. But there was one outfit that stood out. He wondered if it held any significance. Once he put it on and looked in the full-length mirror, Obi-Wan had to admit the color didn’t look bad on him.

He left his room in search of the kitchen, deciding to let Anakin and Padmé have as much time together as they wanted, but he was surprised to see Padmé already there, rummaging through one of the cabinets on her tiptoes. So as not to startle her, he cleared his throat.

When she turned around, she smiled brightly at him. “I was right. Cerulean blue really brings out your eyes.”

“Ah, so that was your doing then.”

“I’m surprised you picked it, especially on your first full day here. I thought I’d have to fight you on it. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes,” he lied. “Did you even get any sleep?”

Padmé hesitated for a moment, her smile disappearing. “I understand why you wanted to take it slow with Anakin.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She held up a finger and turned back to the cabinet. Then she made a pleased sound as she took out a box, but the handmaiden who had led them to the retreat walked in and put her hands on her hips.

“Don’t worry about that, Padmé. I’ll make breakfast. Just go relax.”

Padmé sighed. “Dormé, I’m fine.” Clearly, this was not the first time the disagreement had come up.

But Dormé made a shooing motion with her hand, and Padmé accepted defeat and left the box on the counter. When the handmaiden gave Obi-Wan a pointed look, he followed Padmé out of the kitchen into what appeared to be a small dining area. Since that wasn’t where they ate dinner, Obi-Wan was curious as to just how many dining areas there were.

She pulled out two chairs before sitting down. He sat down beside her, still very confused, but after she looked around, she leaned in close. “Anakin’s emotions were so intense that we had to stop, and I’m afraid that it might become worse the further along I get.”

Padmé had told them that she was only mildly Force-sensitive, so he found it interesting that Anakin’s emotions would bother her to such an extent. Either the pregnancy really was affecting her abilities, or Anakin was just that special.

“If you want, I can try to teach you shielding.” It hadn’t done Obi-Wan much good, but that was probably due to the bond they shared.

She smiled in relief. “I’d appreciate that.” After removing herself from his personal space, she said, “I hope you don’t mind bland porridge for breakfast. My stomach is rebelling again.”

“That’s fine. I’m not a picky eater.”

A comfortable silence settled over them while they waited for their food. It was calming to be around someone who didn’t always feel the need to talk. Anakin had his quiet moments, of course, but they never lasted very long, or he was quiet because he was sulking, which was always a delightful time. Soon, they each got a bowl of porridge, something Obi-Wan hadn’t eaten since his days as a junior Padawan. However, Nabooian porridge was a little sweeter than what he remembered.

Padmé ate slowly, making Obi-Wan wonder just how much nausea she’d been dealing with.

“How long have you known?” he asked a few minutes later.

“That I’m pregnant? About . . . four weeks.”

So she found out early on. “That’s a long time to keep it a secret, but I suppose you’re used to keeping secrets.” He almost winced. That hadn’t come out right.

If she was bothered by what he said, she didn’t show it. “Well, Bail and Dormé know, but I wanted to tell you and Anakin in person.”

“I apologize for how I reacted.”

Padmé shook her head. “I should be apologizing to you. I realized that the way Anakin and I were acting with each other could have led you to believe that you didn’t belong. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s alright. Everything is fine now.” It really wasn’t, but he didn’t feel like discussing it at the moment. “Am I going to have to meet your parents soon?”

She laughed a little into her glass of water, causing some of it to dribble down her chin. She took her napkin and said, “Probably not for another week. My mother told me that they do actually want to have a Newlywed Feast, and I think it would be a good idea if you come along. I won’t tell them about our relationship just yet, but it would help if they at least meet you beforehand.”

That didn’t sound too bad, and it would be entertaining to see how Anakin interacted with them. “What is a Newlywed Feast?”

“Oh, it’s just some old tradition where the two families have dinner together soon after the marriage takes place.” Padmé shrugged as she moved her porridge around with her spoon. “Obviously, it’s a bit late, but it’ll make my parents less annoyed with me. I’ll have to try contacting Shmi to see if she can come.”

He wasn’t sure how she would explain his appearance at the dinner if it was only meant to be for the families, but he let it go. “Do your parents know about Anakin’s past?”

“No. I figured it wasn’t my place to reveal that.”

Obi-Wan nodded. He didn’t think Anakin would ever want her parents to know he grew up as a slave.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence. Obi-Wan had so many questions, but he didn’t know where to start. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to know the answers to some of them, and he was afraid of upsetting Padmé. Even though he hadn’t been able to achieve his usual sense of calm in weeks, he would meditate later to attempt to get his thoughts in order.

After they finished, Padmé led him outside where she sat on the lush grass and patted the spot next to her. He sat down and listened to the wind rustle the tree branches as Padmé rested her hand over his. It was obvious why she had decided to go to Varykino. It was peaceful and remote enough that they could all figure out how to move forward with very little interference.

But then he caught her smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.

“So how’s the sex been?” she asked casually.

He somehow knew she was going to ask about that, so he disappointed her by smiling instead of getting embarrassed like she had probably expected. “Good, but he makes me feel old.”

“There are times when he even makes _me_ feel old,” she said, laughing. “That’s the main difference between the two of you. Anakin is all about getting swept up in passion, but you’re more about drawing it out so that we can enjoy the little moments. I’m not saying that Anakin doesn’t slow down every now and then, but he generally has too much pent up energy for that.”

Obi-Wan didn’t know that she had been intimate with him in her old timeline. It made him decidedly uncomfortable, which she seemed to sense. Could she actually feel that in the Force? He wasn’t sure what her abilities were, untrained as she was.

“I’m sorry,” Padmé said as she withdrew her hand. “Despite everything being so different from what I lived before, I sometimes forget what happened in which timeline.”

“But you don’t fear Anakin any longer, right?”

She smiled sadly, shaking her head. “I still have nightmares, though. Lately, they’ve been of events that I never actually witnessed, like the storming of the Temple.” Padmé looked down and picked at the grass. “I hope he’ll understand that it’s not personal if I need some space from him afterward.”

“He’s been better about that lately.” Much to his relief, Anakin appeared to realize that wanting space didn’t mean Obi-Wan was angry with him or that he hated him. “What were our reactions to your pregnancy in the future?”

“About the same, but since you were both sill Jedi, and the war was ongoing . . . You’d been fighting for three years by that point, and I could see just how completely exhausted you and Anakin were. The Republic fell a few days later, so it wasn’t like I was afraid that you were going to leave me. When we confronted Anakin, I just . . . The look in his eyes will always haunt me.” She tilted her head up toward the sky. “I wonder if that timeline ceased to exist after I died or if it continued on.”

Obi-Wan had thought about that himself. “Which would you prefer?”

“I don’t know. If it did keep going, I hope my death snapped Anakin out of it, that you didn’t just end up killing each other.”

When Padmé leaned against him, he put his arm around her shoulders. She probably hadn’t actually dealt with what happened yet. Padmé had told him that she didn’t have the energy to tackle the problems of the Republic—specifically Palpatine at that time—and her own personal issues simultaneously. Now she had no excuse, and neither did he.

“Well, you two look cozy,” Anakin said as he walked up to them, smiling brightly.

Anakin looking so relaxed and happy was a welcome sight, and it certainly made leaving the Order worth it.

Obi-Wan stood and helped Padmé get to her feet. Then she held out her hand to Anakin, who took it and gave her a kiss before turning to Obi-Wan to give him one as well before he looked Obi-Wan up and down appreciatively. Anakin was also wearing new clothes, so Moteé must have been rather busy.

“I’m going to teach Padmé shielding,” Obi-Wan said with the barest hint of a smile.

Anakin laughed nervously as he let go of Padmé’s hand. “You told him about that, huh?”

Padmé looked at him with concern. “Should I not have?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just one big mess of emotions.”

Obi-Wan didn’t like his self-deprecating tone, but he knew he had been part of the problem. He’d always told Anakin to let go of his emotions, that they made him less of a Jedi. Well, he hadn’t actually used those exact words, but it had been implied. Obi-Wan didn't know how to apologize for that.

“So what’s the plan for today?” Anakin asked cheerily.

Padmé grinned at him, but it was a predator’s smile. “You’re going to apologize to my parents.”

That deflated him very quickly. Obi-Wan would laugh if he didn’t know he would be in a similar position sometime soon.

“I told them that we’d be there for lunch, so it’s too late to back out.”

Anakin looked to Obi-Wan, but he held up his hands and backed away. “You’re on your own. I’m not going to meet them until this Newlywed Feast that’s going to happen in a week.”

“Oh, so we’re doing that?” he asked Padmé. Apparently, she had taught him about her culture.

“Yes. Can I contact Shmi?”

Anakin smiled. “I just sent her a message, but I know she’d love to hear from you.”

Padmé turned to Obi-Wan. “I wish I was there when you and Shmi met. That must have been entertaining.”

“It was most definitely _not_ ,” Obi-Wan stated emphatically.

“It might have helped if you’d been there,” Anakin said. “She was very suspicious of Obi-Wan’s motives. She even asked if it was possible that he was just using me for my body.”

Obi-Wan was absolutely horrified, while a laugh escaped Padmé before she slapped a hand over her mouth. He was so glad he didn’t know about that when he had his talk with Shmi.

“Obviously, I told her that wasn’t the case. Don’t worry.” He patted Obi-Wan on the back. “By the end of our stay, my mother said that she liked you.”

Padmé looked far too giddy. “You can tell me all the details on our way to Theed.”

“Do I really have to go today?” Anakin asked with a groan.

“Yes, now go get ready.”

“But I _am_ ready,” he said as he gestured to himself.

“Your hair is a mess. Please try to fix it.”

Anakin sighed and walked back inside.

Padmé turned to Obi-Wan just as he suggested that she shave most of his hair off. The longer it got, the harder it was to tame. “Oh, no. I like it.” There was a devious glint in her eyes, which made him slightly wary. “It’s the perfect length for pulling, which he absolutely loves, by the way.” She barely gave him time to process that little piece of information. “We’ll be back for dinner. You’re free to explore, of course. There’s a small library on the third floor you might like.”

Chuckling, he shook his head. “Well, then I wish you luck.”

“I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”

\------

Padmé had made him go over what he was going to say at least five times on the way to her parents’ house, but he still felt like he was going to kriff it all up. It didn’t matter that he’d met them before. It was going to be his first time seeing them after marrying their daughter. Anakin was beginning to understand why Obi-Wan had been so nervous about meeting his mother.

After Padmé knocked on the door—he couldn’t remember when he last saw so many an old-fashioned doors that worked on hinges—Anakin swallowed hard and stood up straight with his shoulders pushed back. Padmé just put her arm around his waist, probably trying to offer him some comfort.

Her father, Ruwee, swung the door open with such force that Anakin almost jumped, and it took Padmé digging her nails into his side to get him to finally say “hello.” Ruwee narrowed his eyes at Anakin for a moment before stepping out of the way to let them in.

“Where’s Mother?” Padmé asked after she gave Ruwee a quick kiss.

“Out back,” he said as he stared at Anakin. “She set up the table on the deck because the weather is too pleasant to stay indoors.”

Anakin was surprised to feel only a hint of anger from Ruwee. He’d been expecting a lot worse. The distrust he felt from Jobal was stronger, but at least she pretended to be happy to see him.

Once they all sat down, Anakin took a deep breath. “I wanted to apologize for not telling you about our marriage. We didn’t want to burden you with such a secret, but we know now that it wasn’t the right decision. At the time, we were afraid of what the consequences would be if it got out. My commitment to the Jedi was important to me, especially when we were entering a war.”

“So your commitment to the Jedi was more important than your commitment to Padmé?” Jobal asked with a slight glare.

Of course Anakin messed up. “No!” _Don’t panic. You can fix this._ “That’s not what I meant! I, uh, I meant to say that we both had prior commitments, and if the marriage got out, then I would have— _we_ would have been punished, and, um . . . ”

“Yes, Anakin, I already told them what the consequences would have been,” Padmé said, coming to his rescue. “We felt like we had to put our duty to the Republic over our love for each other.”

Anakin nodded. “But I loved you too much to let you go,” he said after he finally remembered the rest of the script.

“And I loved _you_ too much to realize we were being foolish,” Padmé said with a smile as she laced their fingers together.

“Alright, alright.” Ruwee waved his hand back and forth. “No tender love confessions at the lunch table.” But he was smiling a little, so Anakin counted that as a victory.

Then an awkward silence settled over them. Anakin was never good at small talk. That was Obi-Wan’s forte. Being a politician, Anakin thought Padmé would be able to strike up a conversation easily, but she looked just as uncomfortable as felt, and if he noticed, they certainly did.

“We should start eating,” Jobal said before the silence became too unbearable.

Anakin wasn’t very hungry. He saw that Padmé didn’t put much on her plate, which worried him. She hadn’t eaten much at dinner either. Being pregnant, shouldn’t she be eating more than usual?

“What do you plan on doing now that you’ve resigned from the Jedi Order?” Ruwee asked.

Padmé had prepared him for that question, so he just had to hope he remembered what he was supposed to say. “Well, I want to focus on starting a family, and afterward, I’ll probably try to find work as a mechanic.”

He raised his eyebrows. “A mechanic?”

“He’s very smart, especially when it comes to that sort of thing,” Padmé jumped in. “Anakin was able to build a protocol droid before the age of ten.”

Anakin understood she was trying to portray him as a child prodigy, but the reference to his life on Tatooine made him want to flee the table. His past as a slave was something he _never_ wanted her parents to find out. Inviting his mother to the Feast was really pushing it, but since that meant he’d be able to see her again, he hadn’t argued. So he took a calming breath and said, “I didn’t actually build the droid from scratch, though. I used spare parts.” While Jobal seemed impressed, Ruwee was frowning at him. Maybe he felt Anakin was just bragging? He thought he was being modest. “Anyway, I have time to figure it out.” He was so nervous that the food was tasteless in his mouth.

“How are you with children?” Ruwee asked a few minutes later.

That was another question Padmé had told him to expect. “I like children. Before the war, I would sometimes play with the younglings.”

Once he’d hit a certain age, they began to flock to him. It startled Anakin, but Obi-Wan said they were just drawn to his presence in the Force. He enjoyed being around them because they weren’t cruel like his peers were. The younglings seemed to genuinely like him. That made it worse when he found out that he killed them in Padmé’s future. Anakin tried hard not to think about that.

“But can you discipline a child?”

“Definitely. I was responsible for my apprentice for nearly two years, so I have some idea of what it’s like to be a parent.” Beginning to feel a little at ease, he gave them one of his charming smiles. That usually helped to win people over. “Teenagers aren’t easy, but I think I did a good job.”

Jobal leaned forward. “What happened to them after you resigned?”

He didn’t know how to answer that since Padmé hadn’t gone over that part with him, so he decided to go with the truth. “She resigned, too. The war had been hard on her, and she wasn’t happy with the Order anymore.”

Jobal gasped. “You let a _child_ fight in the war?”

“That wasn’t Anakin’s decision,” Padmé said before he could stumble over his words again. “It was the High Council’s, and it’s one of the reasons why the Jedi Order is in desperate need of reform.”

Anakin really didn’t want to get into that with her parents, so he desperately tried to think of something else to talk about. “How’s the local batil’a team doing?” He knew nothing about the sport other than its name, but it was the first Naboo-related thing that popped into his head.

Padmé massaged her temple while both her parents just looked at him in confusion.

The rest of the visit was painful, but what helped get him through it was knowing that Obi-Wan was going to have it so much worse.

“It went better than I thought it would,” Padmé said on the way back to Varykino.

“I’m sorry for messing up.”

Padmé just sighed and patted his arm. “You weren’t that bad.”

Both of them were mentally drained, so by the time they got to the retreat, they simply collapsed onto one of the sofas and took a nap. Anakin woke up an indeterminate amount of time later to find Padmé sleeping with her head in his lap and Obi-Wan reading an actual book beside him.

 _Where did you get that?_ he asked through their bond so as not to wake Padmé.

 _There’s a library here that has about 20 real books amongst the holobooks. I can’t remember the last time I’ve even_ seen _a book, let alone read one._

_Is it interesting?_

Obi-Wan smiled. _Force, no. It’s the dullest thing I’ve ever read. I don’t think anyone can make soil management interesting._

Anakin struggled not to laugh. _Then why are you reading it?_

 _Because I’m too tired to go back up to the third floor to pick out another one._ He closed the book and put it on the table next to him. _How was the visit?_

Anakin shrugged. _It could have been worse. At least they don’t hate me . . . I think._

Nodding, Obi-Wan whispered, “Dinner will be ready soon.”

He still wasn’t very hungry, and he doubted Padmé was, but he knew they should eat.

After dinner, they all decided to go straight to bed. Anakin leaned in close to Padmé and whispered, “Would it be alright if I asked Obi-Wan to come with us? We’d just sleep, I promise.”

“I have no issue with that.”

He gave her a peck on the cheek as a reply. Before Obi-Wan could say goodnight, Anakin grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him across the hall, away from his room. “You should sleep with us. The bed is big enough for three people.”

Obi-Wan’s gaze slid over to Padmé.

“We would just sleep,” she said with a yawn.

“Please.” Anakin gave Obi-Wan the look he had trouble saying “no” to, but Padmé whacked him on the shoulder.

“Don’t try to act cute. Let him make up his own mind.”

But Obi-Wan smiled and accepted the invitation. “Just don’t put me in the middle.”

“It’s a deal!”

Padmé laughed. “You’re ridiculous, Ani.”

Anakin ended up being the one in the middle, and lying between the two people he loved most in the galaxy made him so happy he wanted to cry. With Padmé up against his back and Obi-Wan’s forehead nearly touching his, Anakin fell asleep more easily than he had in well over a decade.

\------

Padmé exhaled slowly and opened her eyes as she tried to ignore her growing fatigue. Learning how to construct mental shields was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She was just glad that Obi-Wan was a patient teacher. An hour was about all she could handle before having to take a break. Padmé lied back onto the grass and looked up at the motionless tree branches. She was feeling more exhausted than usual, but that was mostly likely due to the pregnancy rather than the training. She could almost fall asleep right then and there.

Eventually, Padmé turned her head to watch Anakin run through lightsaber katas. It looked funny to her since he was using a stick. “What happened to his lightsaber?” she asked Obi-Wan, who had settled against the trunk of the tree they were under.

“It’s still in the Temple. I couldn’t retrieve it without looking suspicious.” They both watched him for a moment, and Obi-Wan called out a correction. “You’re left elbow is too high!”

Dropping his stance, Anakin looked over at them and made a face.

Padmé laughed and waved at him until he shook his head and went back to practicing with his stick. “Obi-Wan, is there a difference between what I can feel from others and what you and Anakin can feel through your bond?”

“Emotions through a Force bond are stronger,” he answered simply.

Sitting up, she widened her eyes at him. “I have no idea how you don’t become overwhelmed by him.”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “I’ve learned how to not let it bother me.”

Then her holocomm went off, and Padmé smiled when she saw it was Ahsoka. She had left her a message the previous day.

_“Hi, Padmé!”_

“Hello. How are you?”

 _“A lot better.”_ She leaned forward and whispered, _“Steela and I finally kissed.”_

“I’m so happy for you! Oh, and I probably should have mentioned that Obi-Wan is here,” she said quickly as she turned the holocomm around.

“Hello, Ahsoka,” he greeted, clearly amused.

Turning it back to herself, she gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry.”

But Ahsoka laughed, and she sounded much more carefree than Padmé could ever remember her being. _“It’s okay.”_

“How long are you planning on staying on Onderon?”

_“I’m content with the way things are for the moment, but I’ll probably come visit in a few weeks.”_

“We would all like that very much. Oh, and now that I can actually tell you, I’m pregnant!”

Ahsoka’s jaw actually dropped, and it took her a few seconds to recover. _“Really? That’s so great! Congratulations!”_ Her smile was blinding.

“Thank you.” She just knew Ahsoka was going to spoil the kid rotten.

Then Anakin noticed who she was speaking with and came running over. Padmé handed the holocomm to him, and he walked off with it as Ahsoka asked him if he was really going to name his kid Bortl. Anakin just groaned and said that was only a joke. Padmé would have to ask him about that later.

She turned back to Obi-Wan. “How are you, really?”

He looked a bit startled at the question, and his glance down at her stomach didn’t escape her attention. “I’m fine.”

“I wasn’t referring to parenthood. Remember how you said you wouldn’t ignore it forever?”

Obi-Wan hunched his shoulders slightly as he looked away from her. “Please, not right now.”

She frowned at him, but she decided to honor his request. He could probably keep denying anything was wrong for years, if they let him. She wasn’t really sure how to get passed his walls since it wasn’t an issue she’d dealt with in the old timeline. Padmé hadn’t wanted to talk about the war when she was with them, and they certainly hadn’t wanted to talk about it either. The war took up enough of their time. She sometimes wondered just how much they had been suffering in silence.

“Let’s get back to the training,” she said with a sigh.

“I should warn you, putting up my own shields doesn't work with Anakin, so there’s no guarantee this will solve the problem.”

Padmé shrugged. “Well, it’s something I should learn anyway.”

\------

The days seemed to go by so quickly at Varykino. Anakin wasn’t used to having so much free time. Ahsoka had told him the same thing when they talked a few days ago. She would get antsy if she didn’t have anything to do, so she was constantly asking if Steela and her brother needed help. Sure, they’d had time off at the Temple, even during the war, but that felt different because there was something to go back to. It wasn’t that Anakin was complaining, though. He loved spending his days with Padmé and Obi-Wan. He just wished he had a project to work on while the two of them were training or doing research on parenting.

For the moment, Anakin was simply enjoying the relaxing atmosphere of the sitting room. He had his head in Padmé’s lap, and he was humming contentedly as she ran her fingers through his hair. Obi-Wan, having gone through the 20 books already, was reading one of the holobooks. The time after dinner was always quiet, and while Anakin used to hate the quiet, he found he didn’t mind it so much now.

“What sort of role would I have in the child’s life?” Obi-Wan asked out of nowhere. The question must have been eating away at him for some time. “Would I be like a second father? An uncle?”

“Definitely not an uncle,” Padmé said, chuckling.

“Alright, but what would the child even call me?”

“I think ‘Papa’ would be adorable.”

Anakin could hear the love in her voice. Cracking his eyes open, he looked at Obi-Wan and grinned, not caring that he must look like a dopey fool. “I highly approve of that name.”

Obi-Wan’s lips twitched into a hint of a smile. “I’ll consider it.”

Closing his eyes again, Anakin starting imagining what it would be like, the three of them raising a child together. Even though Obi-Wan was obviously terrified about the whole thing, Anakin knew he’d be a great father. And Padmé would be a great mother. Anakin couldn’t wait for the kid to be born. He’d show them how to fix and build things, and he’d teach them the ways of the Force, but without all that Jedi Code nonsense. And the Jedi weren’t going anywhere near his child. Anakin didn’t care what the law said. His child was staying with their parents.

By the time they went to bed, Padmé had gotten a little snippy, and she was most definitely _not_ in the mood for cuddles . . . or just generally having anyone near her. She’d already told them about all of her symptoms, so he knew not to take it personally. Instead, he wished her goodnight and went into Obi-Wan’s room. He didn’t understand why Obi-Wan insisted on sleeping separately. Without saying a word, Anakin got under the covers and snuggled up behind him.

Obi-Wan tensed immediately. “Anakin, why are you in my bed?”

“Padmé pretty much kicked me out. She’s having one of those mood swings.”

That made him relax.

Anakin thought that since Obi-Wan had finally gotten over his issue with Anakin’s emotions, sex wasn’t a problem anymore. Obi-Wan certainly didn’t have a problem with it on the trip to Naboo. So Anakin held onto him tighter and began kissing the back of his neck.

Obi-Wan sighed. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?” He tried to go for a seductive tone, but whenever he did that with Padmé, she looked at him like she was trying not to laugh.

Obi-Wan stopped Anakin’s hand from travelling any lower. “Anakin.” He sounded tired.

It was just that his two lovers were right there, and after that disastrous night with Padmé, he was so frustrated.

Anakin let go of Obi-Wan only to push him onto his back, and as he sat on top of him, the dull need he’d felt low in his gut exploded into full-blown lust. Obi-Wan said his name again in that same exhausted tone, but Anakin ignored him and splayed his hands on Obi-Wan’s chest. He just needed to wake Obi-Wan up a bit more, and he knew exactly how to do that. “I promise I’ll make you feel good,” he whispered.

Obi-Wan quickly flipped them and pinned Anakin’s wrists to the bed. “That’s enough,” he said quietly.

Suddenly, images from long ago worked their way to the front of Anakin’s mind, and he slammed his shields up.

He was just like them.

He’d almost . . .

***

Obi-Wan couldn’t understand why Anakin was going into panic mode. After he got off of him, Anakin sat up shakily. Using the Force, Obi-Wan turned on the lights, and he saw just how pale Anakin’s face was. “I’m not angry with you,” he said, deeply concerned. But then Anakin started babbling nonsense, and Obi-Wan wasn’t sure Anakin had even heard him. “Calm down. What are you talking about?”

“The-the slavers and the people who pay to use their slaves.” Anakin wasn’t looking at him. “I’m no better than any of them.”

Obi-Wan’s blood ran cold. “Anakin . . . what do you mean?”

His reply was to make his shields even stronger, but Obi-Wan was having none of it.

Then Padmé opened the door and walked in, looking somewhat annoyed. “I need to do a lot more work on my shielding. There were so many emotions all at once that it actually hurt.” But when she saw the state Anakin was in, her annoyance vanished, and she rushed to his side. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but Anakin is saying he’s no better than slavers.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t quite describe the expression on her face, but he felt her sorrow in the Force. She sat beside Anakin and desperately tried to get him to talk, her hands reaching out to stroke his hair or squeeze his shoulder, while Obi-Wan simply rested his hand on Anakin’s knee. Between Padmé’s kind words and Obi-Wan’s presence, they were able to coax Anakin into opening up.

“I . . . I saw a lot of horrible things on Tatooine. My mother did her best to hide it all from me, but there was only so much she could do. One time, when I did something to really get Watto angry, he punished me by lending me to a brothel owner for a few days.”

Obi-Wan stopped breathing, and Padmé turned as pale as Anakin.

Anakin looked at them and realized what conclusion they’d reached. “It’s not what you’re thinking! I was an errand boy. No one touched me. I got whatever the workers or clients wanted from the stockroom, and I sometimes helped clean up after a client left. I saw . . . ” As he pulled his knees up to his chest, Obi-Wan noticed that his left hand was shaking. “I knew what sex was. My mother explained it to me the night before my first day working there. And I knew what Watto’s threat was. If I didn’t behave, I’d be sold to the brothel owner. The owner had told me that a boy my age would give him a lot of business. I never misbehaved after that.”

Obi-Wan finally understood why Anakin had tried to be so careful with him. He’d thought that Anakin was just afraid of pushing him away, which very well could have been a factor, but his true motivation was not wanting to be like the filth who visited the brothels on Tatooine. He had seen them completely ignore people’s boundaries in favor of power and pleasure. No, that was sanitizing it. Anakin had witnessed slaves being raped for profit when he was just a child. And Anakin thought that what he’d just done was on the same level as such a horrific act.

“You are nothing like them,” Obi-Wan insisted, his tone coming out a bit harsher than he’d meant it to.

Anakin flinched and wrapped his arms around his legs tighter. “But I—”

“You made a mistake, pushed more than you should have, but that doesn’t mean you are _anything_ like them.”

Tears were streaming down Padmé’s face, but Obi-Wan didn’t actually know what to do to comfort her. He just felt so weary.

She managed to pull herself out of it on her own after a few minutes. “We should all go to my bed.”

Anakin moved like he was on autopilot, and they settled him in the middle since he had obviously liked it so much before.

“I’m sorry for not telling you,” Anakin said in such a tiny voice that Obi-Wan’s heart nearly broke. “I hate even thinking about it.”

“Don’t worry about that, Ani.” Padmé wiped the fresh tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. “You don’t have to tell us everything.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if Anakin wanted to be touched, but he seemed fine when Padmé draped an arm across him, so Obi-Wan got close to him and did the same. Then Anakin closed his eyes and finally began to relax.

The next morning, Anakin came out of the fresher just as they were waking up. He’d taken a shower, and his hair was a complete mess of wet tangles. “Good morning!” Anakin smiled brightly as he started to get dressed. “I was wondering when the two of you would decide to stop being lazy.”

Padmé said something that was probably about how she was the least lazy person in the room, but her words were muffled by her pillow.

“Tonight’s that awful Newlywed Feast,” Anakin reminded them, as if they’d somehow forgotten.

“Then why are you so cheerful?” Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin’s smile became a smirk. “Because I’ll get to watch you squirm.” Now fully dressed, he walked out of the bedroom, presumably to go eat. “It’s time to share the pain, Obi-Wan!”

Obi-Wan stared at the empty doorway for a moment before he looked to Padmé. “Should we just . . . not bring up what happened last night?”

She rolled onto her back and blew at the strands of hair that had ended up in her face. “I think that’s best for now, but what _did_ happen? I mean, what set him off?”

Obi-Wan sighed. “To put it simply, he wanted sex, and I didn’t. I thought I was being clear about that, but apparently I wasn’t.”

“Did you outright tell him you didn’t want to have sex?” she asked with a frown.

“Not . . . exactly.”

“You need to be direct with Anakin from the start. When I’m not in the mood, I flat-out tell him that, and he always backs off.” She looked a bit queasy, and Obi-Wan didn’t think it had anything to do with her pregnancy.

Obi-Wan should have known. About a year into Anakin’s training, Obi-Wan had realized that he needed to be direct with him on many issues. And Anakin himself had said that he had trouble understanding body language. Obi-Wan should have _known_ that he actually needed to tell Anakin he only wanted to sleep.

Padmé got out of bed and flung the covers back. “Go take a shower, Obi-Wan. I’ll do the same, and then we’ll get through this day like we’ve gotten through all the others.”

He knew she was right, so he took a deep breath and got up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They clearly all have issues they need to work on.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Even though Obi-Wan didn’t seem to be against going to the Feast initially, it had taken some time to convince him to go. He tried to argue that it was only for immediate family, but Padmé explained that since Anakin didn’t have anyone to go with him, her parents wouldn’t object to Obi-Wan’s presence. Anakin claimed that Obi-Wan was a part of their family anyway, so it would be appropriate for him to go, even if his mother could have made it. Shmi had gotten back to Padmé rather quickly. As much as she wanted to go, she simply couldn’t. Owen had recently gotten hurt and was told to rest up to heal, so Shmi didn’t want to leave Beru to do all the work on her own. Anakin was disappointed, but Padmé thought it was only because he wanted to see his mother again. Having Shmi there probably would have made him uncomfortable since he had told her that he didn’t want her parents knowing about his past.

So there they were, sitting together with her family at the dinner table, and they’d run out of safe topics to discuss.

Even if Padmé couldn’t sense it, she knew Anakin was starting to get nervous. She was even beginning to feel something similar from Obi-Wan. Padmé put her hand on Obi-Wan’s thigh, and his eyes flicked to her before the tension in his shoulders eased a bit. She did the same to Anakin, but he didn’t relax at all. It was against tradition to not have Obi-Wan seated next to Anakin since he was acting as a stand-in for Anakin’s family, but Padmé knew it would be better for both of them if she sat in the middle. Her parents didn’t comment on it, most likely because they were already bucking tradition by holding the Feast two years late.

At least Sola was apparently over the deception. She’d made an appreciative noise when she saw Anakin that clearly meant she thought he was handsome, and she would smile at Padmé whenever they caught each other’s eye.

“So how did you meet Padmé?” her mother asked.

Obi-Wan didn’t seem caught off-guard by the question. He probably expected them to be curious about him. “I was assigned to protect her when there were attempts made on her life just before the start of the war.”

Padmé frowned slightly. Why had he lied? Her parents would have loved him instantly if he told them he was one of the Jedi who helped take Naboo back from the Trade Federation.

“Oh! You’re a Jedi!” Her mother must have made the connection since she knew Anakin was also protecting her at that time.

His grip on his fork tightened ever so slightly, and Padmé thought that maybe he didn’t want her parents to know he’d been a Jedi. That would explain why he lied, but she wasn’t sure why he’d want to keep that a secret. Maybe he just didn’t want to talk about it since he didn’t part with the Order on good terms. She should have insisted that they go over certain topics beforehand like she had with Anakin.

“I _was_ a Jedi, yes.”

“So that’s also how you know Anakin.”

He nodded, but before he could give a verbal answer, she moved on to her next question. Padmé was afraid it was going to turn into an interrogation.

“Why did you leave the Order?”

Padmé gaped at her. “Mother! That’s not something you ask!”

But Obi-Wan just smiled. “I had my reasons.”

“Did you know about their marriage?”

“I did not, but I knew they were seeing each other.”

Her mother frowned and set her cutlery down on the table. “I thought it was against the rules for a Jedi to be in a relationship. Shouldn’t you have reported him?”

“While that’s true, I saw that it made Anakin happy, so I looked the other way.” At least Obi-Wan was handling the pressure better than Anakin had. “After everything he’d been through, I felt he more than deserved to be happy, no matter that what he was doing was against the Jedi Code.”

“Everything he’d been through?”

Obi-Wan froze. Apparently, he’d forgotten that her parents didn’t know about Anakin’s past as a slave and how he was treated at the Temple. “Well . . . the war.”

Her mother narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not believing the lie, but thank the gods, she let it go.

“Did you know Anakin’s apprentice?” her father asked, and although the question was directed at Obi-Wan, he looked straight at Anakin.

She could sense his relief that his slip-up was being ignored in favor of a new topic. “I know her quite well. We had been on many missions together, and I’m proud of her, just as I’m proud of my own former apprentice.”

Obi-Wan looked at Anakin over Padmé’s head, and while Anakin’s smile was restrained, his love was almost like a punch to the gut. Padmé had expected that, so she didn’t get startled by it. She was able to build a thin mental shield, but she only put it up when she absolutely had to since it was so exhausting to keep it up for long periods of time. She wasn’t sure if that was normal or if that was due to the pregnancy sucking the life out of her, which was a bit of an exaggeration, but that was certainly what it felt like at times.

Her parents hadn’t known that Obi-Wan used to be Anakin’s master, so they started lobbing questions at him, each more personal than the last. They didn’t even give him time to answer.

“How respectful was he when he was younger?”

“Do you think Anakin has been treating Padmé well?”

“Did he have many lovers before her?”

Anakin began slouching in his chair like he was trying to make himself smaller, and before Padmé could tell them how rude they were being, she felt a strong wave of irritation from Obi-Wan.

“I don’t appreciate you talking about Anakin as though he isn’t sitting right in front of you,” he said politely but firmly.

At least they had the decency to look ashamed by their behavior.

“I apologize,” her father said, and it seemed like he actually meant it. “We’re just worried.”

“Are you truly happy, Padmé?” her mother asked.

Padmé took Anakin’s hand in hers and looked at him with a smile. “I am, very much.” When she looked back at her parents, who had relaxed a little, she noticed that Sola was giving her the signal that she wanted to talk. It seemed urgent, so Padmé made up an excuse to go into the kitchen and Sola followed soon after.

“What’s wrong?” Padmé whispered.

“I caught Obi-Wan giving you a _look_.”

Padmé frowned. “What does that even mean?”

Sola grabbed Padmé’s upper arms as though she was about to say something incredibly important. “I think Obi-Wan is in love with you.” Padmé burst out laughing, and Sola slapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m being serious.”

Knowing that Obi-Wan wasn’t going to leave them, Padmé decided to come clean about her relationship with him. “I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Love is tricky for him because he was raised to be a Jedi practically from birth, but I have no doubt that he’ll fall in love with me someday.” _He did once before._ “You see, I love Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan loves Anakin, Anakin loves Obi-Wan and me, I love Anakin, and at some point, Obi-Wan will love me, too.” She hoped she could go back soon. She felt guilty for leaving them alone with her parents for so long.

Sola’s eyes widened, and she took a step back. “You’re in a three-way relationship with Anakin and Obi-Wan?” her sister shouted.

Padmé winced at how loud that was. Panicked, she tried to listen for anything from the dining room, but there was only silence. She ran back in only to find her father glaring across the table and her mother looking absolutely horrified. The color had drained from Anakin’s face, while she didn’t think Obi-Wan was even breathing.

Not knowing what to do, she said the first thing that came to her mind to use as a distraction. “I’m pregnant.”

All eyes immediately fell on her, and Obi-Wan was giving her a look that screamed _have you gone mad?_

Her father rose from his chair, and he was angrier than he’d been when she’d told them about her marriage. “Do you even know who the father is?”

“Yes, it’s Anakin.” _How am I going to fix this?_

Sola, who had run in behind her, seemed to realize what she’d done. “Father, please calm down. We should let her explain. I probably misunderstood.”

“You didn’t,” Padmé said, still unsure of what to do.

When her father banged his fist on the table, Anakin shot out of his chair, its legs scraping against the floor to make an awful sound. Obi-Wan got up slowly, his eyes darting to the various people around the room like he was trying to decide what was the best course of action to take.

“We raised you better than this!” her father bellowed. “What will you do when people find out? How could you shame yourself, shame our family, in such a way? Having-having multiple lovers like some kind of—”

“Enough!” Padmé shouted. Calling upon her training, she took the posture she used to hold when dealing with a difficult politician and stated calmly, “We will be leaving now.”

“You’re not even going to _try_ to explain?” her mother asked, tears in her eyes.

“Not right now, when emotions are so high.” Padmé didn’t care that she was being distant. It was the only way she could get through it.

“Is this some sort of-of sex thing?”

It was Obi-Wan’s turn to be horrified. “That’s not it at all. We do actually care about one another.”

Anakin looked like he was on the verge of running out of the house at top speed.

“We should get going.” Padmé gently pushed her lovers out of the room. “Thank you for a lovely Feast.”

Thankfully, only Sola followed. “I’m so sorry. I hadn’t meant—”

“It’s alright,” Padmé said, deflating a little. “I’m sorry for not telling you about all that sooner, but I promise I’ll explain everything.” She gave Sola’s hand a squeeze before she continued to walk out.

Anakin flew them back to Varykino in silence. Padmé sagged in her seat for a while before she reached back to undo her hair. She threw the pins onto the floor in frustration before shaking her hair out, but then she felt a hand dig into her curls and massage her scalp. She closed her eyes and let the stress drain from her body.

“That could have went better,” Obi-Wan said after he withdrew his hand.

She turned around and smiled weakly at him in thanks. “It could have been worse.”

“Is your relationship with them ruined now?” Anakin asked.

“It’s not, but it will take a long time for them to accept that this is my life, that it makes me happy.”

When they got back, Anakin gave her a tight hug. “Do you want extra company?”

Padmé glanced at Obi-Wan. “You shouldn’t offer that without asking Obi-Wan first.”

“I did.”

Obi-Wan tapped the side of his head.

Sometimes, it annoyed her when they had conversations with each other through their bond. She understood that it came in handy in certain situations, but she didn’t like not being able to share something that special with either of them. It was hard not to be jealous of them at times.

“Extra company would be nice,” she said quietly.

Instead of Anakin taking the middle, he gave it to Padmé, which was sweet of him, but she was fine . . . really.

“I apologize for making the situation so difficult,” Obi-Wan said miserably before they lied down.

She rolled her eyes and gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Don’t talk like you forced your way into this. I want you here just as much as I want Anakin here. My parents will either have to get over it or risk never seeing their grandchild.”

“That’s a little harsh,” Anakin said.

Padmé twisted around to face him. “It wouldn’t be healthy for the child to be around people who disapprove of their parents’ relationships.” She shook her head and lied down. “We can discuss it in the morning. I just want to sleep.”

She turned to lie on her side, facing Obi-Wan, and Anakin wrapped an arm around her from behind. After Padmé closed her eyes, she felt fingers brush her cheek, and she knew everything would work out somehow.

\------

Sola had commed Padmé earlier in the morning, asking if she could visit. Of course, Padmé said she could. At least Sola hadn’t been judgmental about her relationships, just shocked, and Padmé didn’t want to be cut off from her entire family. Her parents’ reactions had hurt, especially her father’s, and she had no desire to speak with them any time soon. It stung to hear him say that she had brought shame to the family just because she loved two people. She knew they wouldn’t take the news well, but that wasn’t something she had expected at all.

While Padmé waited for Sola to arrive, she finally decided to tell Anakin about Mace. It was time to stop ignoring the problem.

The two of them were in the sun room, and Anakin was stretched out across the couch to soak up the warmth, a look of contentment on his face. She got up from her chair and patted his shoulder so that he’d give her room to sit. “I have an important question to ask you,” she said as he lied back down, putting his head in her lap. “It seems that Mace is considering going against Yoda.” Anakin perked up a little at that. “He wants to speak with you, in person. It’s ultimately your decision, but I think it would be a good idea.”

Anakin sat up and stared at her for a moment. “He’d know where we are.”

“Yes, but I don’t believe that he’d say anything to the Council about it.”

Anakin’s shoulders drooped as he looked to the floor. He seemed resigned to the fact he would have to confront the Council at some point. “Alright, fine. I’ll talk to him. If you really think that he might go against Yoda, this could be a good opportunity for me to state my case.”

She smiled and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll contact him right now.”

He grimaced slightly. “Then I’m off to find Obi-Wan. We haven’t sparred in a while, and I’m feeling out of practice.”

After he left, Padmé took out her comlink and the flimsi Mace had given her. She didn’t want to talk over a holoprojection, so using her comlink was better.

“Hello, Master Windu.”

_“Senator Amidala. I’m surprised to hear from you.”_

She didn’t bother correcting him about the fact that she was no longer a senator. “I apologize for the wait. Anakin agreed to talk, if that’s something you’re still interested in.”

 _“Believe me, I am. You’re all on Naboo, correct?”_ When she hesitated to answer, he sighed. _“I’m alone.”_

“Yes, we’re on Naboo, at Varykino in the Lake Country.”

_“And Kenobi and Tano are there as well?”_

“Ahsoka is elsewhere, but Obi-Wan is here.” If he managed to figure out that her and Obi-Wan were together, she wondered if that would hurt or help them.

_“It will be some time before I can make up a plausible excuse to leave when everything is in such disarray, but I’ll let you know when I’m nearly there.”_

Padmé had no idea just how bad it was. With the Order being as secretive as it was, it wasn’t like news of their turmoil could be found anywhere. “Don’t make me regret trusting you,” she said sternly, hoping he knew that she meant he better not show up with a bunch of Jedi Masters.

_“I won’t.”_

After they disconnected, Padmé tried to reach out into the Force to see where her lovers were. Obi-Wan had started teaching her how to do other things besides build mental shielding. Even if her enhanced sensitivity would disappear after the baby was born, she still had many months to go before that would happen, so she might as well learn what she could.

“Milady! You shouldn’t walk around with your eyes closed!” Teckla shouted, horrified.

Padmé looked at her guiltily. “Sorry. It’s just easier to concentrate that way.” She’d told them about being Force-sensitive the same time she told them about her pregnancy. Her handmaidens had been excited about the arrival of a baby, but they were also quite displeased with her because they felt she hadn’t been taking very good care of herself. At least they’d understood why she didn’t want to tell them right away. “I promise not to do it again.”

Teckla didn’t look convinced. “Are you looking for Masters Sky— I mean, are you looking for Anakin and Obi-Wan?” While Anakin hadn’t cared what they called him, Obi-Wan was uncomfortable being referred to in such a way when he was no longer a Jedi, so he had corrected them. “They’re out on the Southern Lawn.”

Padmé rested her hand on Teckla’s arm. “Thank you.”

“Just please be more careful.”

“I will.”

Not wanting to actually bother them, Padmé stayed in the tiny reading room that led directly to the Southern Lawn. They were in the shade, so they wouldn’t overheat quickly. While Naboo’s summers were nothing compared to how hot Tatooine could get, the human body could only take so much, and Anakin wasn’t as acclimated to the heat as he was years ago. Obi-Wan never did well in the heat.

Padmé had never actually had the opportunity to watch them spar. They were so perfectly in sync with each other that she couldn’t help but wonder how that fight on Mustafar would have went. At least it was easy to separate what was happening in front of her from what had happened on Mustafar because it was obvious that they weren’t actually trying to hurt each other. Both of them would smile after a particularly clever move, and Anakin would laugh every so often.

Not too much later, Sola walked up next to her. She remained silent, which made Padmé a bit nervous, but it turned out that her sister was just admiring the view.

“I can see why you’re with them,” Sola said with a sly smile.

Padmé raised an eyebrow in question, even though she knew what her sister meant.

“Well, they’re good-looking _and_ incredibly skilled.”

Laughing, Padmé hugged her. “You’re ridiculous.”

“What? I can imagine having the attention of those two must be . . . nice.” Judging by the look on Sola’s face, there were some very indecent thoughts going through her mind.

After giving her sister a light smack on the arm, she took her hand and led her to the small table.

Padmé explained everything over tea, and her sister was quiet the entire time. Once she was done, Sola stared at her for a full minute, most likely attempting to process it all. “So Anakin didn’t resign. He escaped . . . because the Jedi High Council thinks he’s a threat to the galaxy.” Then she laughed, which caught Padmé off guard.

“I’m not sure what’s so funny about that,” she said while glaring a bit.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I can’t understand how a man who was clearly panicking because his father-in-law was angry can be a threat to the galaxy.”

Padmé had to admit it was a little funny. “Anakin does have a temper, though.”

Her grin disappeared instantly. “Has he ever raised a hand against you?”

“No, never,” she said quickly. “I’m going to try to convince him to get professional help. The Jedi lifestyle is not a healthy one.” Padmé made a face as she looked to the side. “Instead of encouraging you to work through your trauma, they just tell you not to dwell on the past and ‘release your feelings into the Force.’” Padmé put her hands on her stomach. “I’m afraid the Jedi will try to take my child. A Jedi Master is coming to Naboo to speak with Anakin, so I was thinking of asking him about it.”

“What will you do if he says that you must give it up?”

“Then I will fight,” she said with her head held high.

The corner of Sola’s mouth quirked up into a smile. She was very used to that attitude of Padmé’s. “And I will fight with you. Are you sure it’s Anakin’s?”

“Yes, I haven’t slept with Obi-Wan yet.” _At least not in this timeline._ At Sola’s surprise, she explained, “Obi-Wan is a little awkward with relationships, so we’re taking it slow. It’s a nice change from how things started with Anakin.”

“How exactly does it work with three people?”

Padmé tried not to laugh at Sola’s expression. She seemed so fascinated. “We all understand that our relationships with each other are different, but equal. The amount of time spent with each person doesn’t matter.”

Sola shook her head. “It’s probably something I’ll never comprehend, but if it makes you happy, then I don’t see a problem with it. It will be hard for the child, though. Having three parents isn’t considered normal in this part of Naboo.”

“This part?”

“I did a little research this morning, and it turns out that it’s somewhat common in Dee’ja Peak.”

Padmé had no idea. She almost wanted to go there to ask for advice on how to raise a child when there were three parents involved. Everything her and Obi-Wan had found so far, at least in Basic, were about two-parent families. Granted, they hadn’t looked for very long, so there might be something out there. Padmé knew they needed to expand their search beyond Basic. She just wished the translators worked better. Remembering Bail’s comment, she looked into Alderaan, but there wasn’t much. She hadn’t even thought to look for anything from Naboo.

“How were Mother and Father after we left?” Padmé asked.

Sola winced and looked away. “They were both pretty upset. Mother was crying, and Father was so angry that he did that thing where he doesn’t move or speak. I only stayed long enough to help clean up.”

Padmé had guessed that was what had happened. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. They overreacted, and they were being rude even before that. I think they’ll get over it eventually. You just need to . . . give them a few months.”

Then Anakin and Obi-Wan walked in. They were both disheveled from their sparring match, but they were all smiles. Sola looked them up and down before they noticed her, and Padmé stifled a laugh.

Obi-Wan was the first to notice Sola. “Oh! Hello.”

Padmé could feel Anakin’s nervousness.

“Hello,” Sola greeted back.

“She knows,” Padmé said. She had already told them that she was going to fill her sister in on everything, minus a few details.

“I’m sorry about last night,” Sola said. “Our parents weren’t going to react well no matter how they found out, but I definitely made it worse.”

Smiling a little, Obi-Wan shook his head. “It’s alright. I’m sure they’ll come around at some point.” Addressing Padmé, he said, “We’re going to go wash up.”

“Take your time.”

“Why does Obi-Wan’s name sound familiar?” Sola asked after they left

Padmé was surprised it took her that long to ask. “He was one of the Jedi who were sent to negotiate with the Trade Federation.”

She leaned forward. “That was _him_? Why didn’t he say that at the Feast?”

She shrugged, not wanting to get into it, especially since she was only speculating as to what his reason was. “And Anakin was the pilot who destroyed the Droid Control Ship.”

“But he doesn’t look that old.”

“He was nine at the time.” Padmé smiled. “He’s an exceptionally gifted pilot, mechanic, and fighter. Anakin’s quite powerful, which was why he and Obi-Wan were able to defeat Palpatine.”

Sola frowned in confusion. “The articles only mentioned Anakin in relation to Palpatine’s death.”

“That’s probably because he was the one who actually killed him, but I don’t think he could have done it without Obi-Wan’s help.”

Sitting back in her chair, Sola rubbed at her eyes as if she was suddenly tired. “I still can’t believe that Palpatine was a traitor. I kept up with the news about the negotiations, and when it came out that he was behind the invasion . . . People burned down Palpatine’s family home, even though he hadn’t been there in a good 20 years. It must have been hard on you. I know you looked up to him.”

Padmé could only nod. Even though she’d had almost two months to deal with it, she really hadn’t. She knew she was something of a hypocrite, telling Obi-Wan he needed to talk about whatever was bothering him, yet she’d been ignoring her own issues. Padmé should start looking for her own counselor.

Then she felt a distant spark of lust, and she quickly put up her thin shield while she tried not to laugh. Of course sparring got them all worked up. They were probably enjoying each other in the shower. Padmé wondered if the physical distance was helping because she knew her shielding wasn’t actually strong enough to block Anakin out yet.

Sola rested a hand on Padmé’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Oh, I’m fine.” Since she wasn’t going to tell Sola about being from the future, she couldn’t explain why she was suddenly Force-sensitive, so it was better to just not say anything about it.

“Are you planning on contacting Mother and Father?”

“I’m going to wait for them to contact me. The only thing I did wrong was not tell them sooner, but their reaction was completely uncalled for.”

Judging by her expression, Sola agreed with her. “Why didn’t you tell them about Obi-Wan when you told them about your marriage to Anakin?”

Padmé sighed. “Because it would have been too much at once, and the reason I didn’t say anything when I saw you was because I was afraid Obi-Wan might leave us. I hadn’t told either of them about my pregnancy yet, and I wasn’t sure how Obi-Wan would react. He’s more nervous than a baby shaak about the whole thing, but he’s decided to stay.”

Sola squeezed Padmé’s hand, and it almost seemed like years ago when they were so close. “I’m glad it worked out.”

“I am, too.” Looking at the chrono on the wall, she invited her sister to lunch. For once, Padmé was actually hungry.

“Thank you, but I should head back. The next time you come for a visit, bring Anakin and Obi-Wan with you so the girls can meet them. They’re going to be so excited about having _two_ Jedi uncles.”

Padmé laughed and gave her sister a hug. “I will.” She could see Pooja asking them a million questions. After getting over her initial shyness, Ryoo would ask them to make her fly using the Force. She was so young, but she’d already decided that she wanted to be a pilot. Anakin and Ryoo would get along spectacularly.

\------

As his heart rate came down, Obi-Wan realized that after last night, he had been in desperate need of a physical release. It worked better than a mental release sometimes. He lifted his head from Anakin’s shoulder and debated if it was a good idea to allude to the minor breakdown Anakin had the other day, but he felt like the words needed to be said. Putting his hand on the back of his lover’s neck, he gave him one last kiss. “I promise to always be direct with you from the beginning.”

It took a few seconds for Anakin to understand, and then he simply nodded. “We’re wasting water.”

Obi-Wan huffed out a laugh.

They came out of the shower a little later, and as they walked back downstairs, Anakin asked him if he thought Padmé’s sister was on their side.

“I think so. Padmé seemed quite relaxed.”

By the time they made it back to the reading room, Padmé was by herself on the sofa.

“Sola left.”

“Is everything alright?” Anakin asked as he sat next to her.

Padmé nodded. “She’s fine with all this. She even found out that there’s a community in the Gallo Mountains where triads are somewhat common, and I’ve decided that I want to speak with them. I’m curious as to how they handle the legal system when it comes to the custody of children.”

Obi-Wan hadn’t even thought about that. Padmé had told him that marriages to two people at once weren’t allowed, so where did that leave a child?

Anakin shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. Oh, what did Master Windu say?”

“That it will be a little while before he can leave without drawing attention to himself, but he’ll contact me when he’s almost here.”

Obi-Wan sat down on the other side of her. “So you finally told Anakin about that. I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to tell him.”

“Wait, you _knew_?” Anakin asked, eyes narrowed.

 _Oh, kriff. This isn’t good._ “Yes, Padmé told me a few weeks ago.” Obi-Wan held up his hands in placating manner. “It’s not that I was keeping it a secret from you. I just thought there was a reason as to why Padmé hadn’t told you yet.”

But it was too late. Anakin was already fuming.

“You will always keep things from me, won’t you?” he shouted as he stood up to face both of them. “You just make up your minds about what I can or can’t handle because I apparently can’t do that myself! You both talk about there not being any secrets among us, but the two of you are _always_ keeping one from me!”

“Please calm down,” Padmé said, her voice shaking slightly.

“Why did I think everything would be different now?” He walked away, but not toward an exit. “I thought we were beyond all that. I thought we were _happy_. I’m such an idiot.”

Padmé got up from the couch to follow him before Obi-Wan could stop her. “I didn’t mean to—”

Anakin whipped around, fire in his eyes, and he practically snarled at her. “I don’t want to hear it!”

She froze, and Obi-Wan got up before Anakin could do any more damage. When he saw her face, he realized what was happening, but Anakin was too preoccupied with his anger to notice. He merely paced in front of them, muttering about how nothing would ever change. Obi-Wan watched as tears began to roll down her cheeks, but when put his hand on her arm, she flinched away from him. “Padmé, look at me.” She slowly obeyed. “You’re on Naboo, and none of those horrible events have happened. Anakin is not going to hurt anyone.”

Obi-Wan saw Anakin stop out of the corner of his eye, and he felt the anger drain from him in a rush.

“I’m so sorry.” Anakin walked up to her, but she backed away, and Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if she was in the present or not. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Padmé looked to Obi-Wan and simply broke. He caught her as her legs gave out on a sob, and he shielded her from Anakin, not having a clue as to how to handle the situation.

“I’m sorry, Padmé,” Anakin said again as he took a few steps toward them. “I wasn’t thinking. I was just upset because you’ve been keeping something from me again for so long. Please forgive me.”

“Anakin, this is not about you,” Obi-Wan said, more than a little annoyed. “You apologized, so now it’s time to back off and let her calm down.” But Anakin only stood there, and Obi-Wan could tell there was another apology on his lips. “Leave, Anakin!”

Startled, he finally walked outside.

Padmé’s whole body was shaking with the force of her sobs as she bent forward and covered her face with her hands.

Dormé came running in a few minutes later. “What happened?”

Obi-Wan didn’t want to tell her the truth because he knew all of the handmaidens would turn against Anakin, and that wouldn’t help. “It must be mood swings.”

She blinked in surprise. “I haven’t seen it this bad before.” She knelt beside Padmé and rubbed her back before she started speaking in a language Obi-Wan was unfamiliar with, but it sounded very soothing.

Eventually, Padmé calmed down, and she slowly sat up. “Water,” she croaked out after she took a deep breath.

Dormé immediately stood to go retrieve a glass.

“Are you with me?” Obi-Wan asked her as she tried to get the hair out of her face.

“I know I’m not on Mustafar,” she whispered.

He hadn’t known that was where it had happened.

“I’m sorry, Obi-Wan.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Dormé returned, and she chugged the entire glass. Then they both helped her to her feet.

“I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

“I can carry you to your bedroom,” Obi-Wan offered.

She laughed weakly. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.” Softly, she said, “Go talk to Anakin.”

Obi-Wan didn’t really feel like talking to him at the moment, but he nodded and let Dormé take over. With a sigh, he went outside and found Anakin sitting against a tree trunk. Obi-Wan stood next to him, his arms crossed, and waited to see what he would do.

“She’s still afraid of me.” He said it so quietly that Obi-Wan had to strain to hear him.

“Only when you get like that. It seems to be an automatic reaction.”

“I’ll talk to someone,” Anakin said abruptly.

“What?”

Anakin drew his knees up to his chest. “Padmé said she’d like for me to talk to someone, a counselor. What if I snap at our child like that? I can’t . . . ”

Obi-Wan finally sat down next to Anakin. He hadn’t thought about that temper being aimed at his own child. At least Anakin would never physically harm anyone he loved. Well, that was what he thought before finding out what had happened in Padmé’s future, but it wasn’t fair to judge Anakin based on what he was capable of doing under very specific circumstances. He was sure that Anakin wouldn’t hurt any of them. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a problem.

“I need help, Obi-Wan.”

And Obi-Wan just stared at the ground, not knowing what to say.

\------

Padmé woke up and felt like she’d been hit by a speeder bus. There was a glass of water on the nightstand, which she drank more slowly than the last glass. After she used the toilet, she looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced, but she decided against trying to cover it all up. Maybe if Anakin saw what he did, he’d seriously start to work on his anger issues.

She walked into the sitting room and saw that both Obi-Wan and Anakin were on one of the sofas. Anakin looked like he’d done some crying himself, but she wasn’t in the mood to comfort him, not that she was obligated to.

“How are you feeling?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Better.”

“Would you like to eat?”

“Not really.” The hunger she’d felt earlier had vanished completely. Padmé stood in front of them, curious as to what would come out of Anakin’s mouth.

Obi-Wan let out a frustrated sigh. “Just tell her.”

Anakin’s eyes flicked up to her before they went back to the floor. “I want to talk to someone.”

That wasn’t what she was expecting. She really thought she would have to convince him, but it seemed that all it took was him lashing out at her and reducing her to a sobbing mess.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of me. I don’t want our _child_ to be afraid of me. And I know I need to . . . confront what Palpatine did.”

Padmé sat next to him, but she didn’t touch him. The memories were still too fresh. “I’ll start looking for someone tomorrow.” After a beat, she said, “The reason I waited to tell you about Mace was that I wanted to spend time with the two of you before we tried to solve the Jedi problem. I just wanted to pretend that everything was fine for a little while.”

Anakin put his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know.” She needed more than words at that point, but the fact that he was willing to get help meant a lot to her. “And I’m sorry for making you think that I was keeping a secret from you. I hadn’t looked at it like that.”

After a beat, Obi-Wan patted Anakin’s thigh. “I didn’t see it that way either, but I can understand why you would draw that conclusion. Neither of us meant to upset you.”

His hands dropped into his lap as he nodded. Whether that meant Anakin had forgiven them, Padmé wasn’t sure, but she was too emotionally drained to go into it any further.

Dormé and Moteé managed to convince her to eat something later, and she avoided both Obi-Wan and Anakin for the rest of the day. But just as she was about to turn off the lights to go to bed, there was a knock on her door.

“It’s only me,” Obi-Wan said. She told him to come in, and he closed the door behind him. “How are you?”

“I’ve been worse,” she replied with a shrug.

“Anakin will be staying in my room for the night.”

Padmé sat cross-legged under the covers and patted the spot in front of her. “Thank you for earlier,” she said after Obi-Wan sat down.

He gave her a disbelieving smile. “I barely knew what I was doing. Dormé is the one you should be thanking. By the way, what language was she speaking?”

“It was our secret language. Every queen and her handmaidens have one, for security purposes.”

“It sounded quite lovely.”

Padmé smiled and leaned forward to kiss him. It started out as a somewhat chaste kiss, but she made a split-second decision to deepen it, and Obi-Wan responded after some hesitation. She briefly wondered if Obi-Wan could sense how much she wanted him in that moment, if Anakin could sense it from the other room. She pulled him on top of her and groaned in frustration at the comforter that was between them.

But Obi-Wan broke the kiss. “We really shouldn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve had a rough day, and I feel like I’m taking advantage.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re clearly not since I’m the one who started it.”

He put more distance between them, sorrow in his eyes. “Well, it’s not exactly fair to Anakin.”

“We don’t need his permission. That’s not how this works.” She sighed as she cupped his cheek. “Are you coming up with excuses because you’re nervous or because you really don’t want to?”

“I do want to.” He looked surprised as he was saying it. “But the timing isn’t right.”

Padmé reluctantly let him go. “Because of Anakin?”

“He’s upset, and doing this would feel like we’re kicking him while he’s down.”

She knew he had a point, so she took a deep breath and nodded.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he sat up.

“It’s okay. Goodnight, Obi-Wan.”

He stared at her as if he was deciding what he should do, but then he wished her a goodnight and left.

And the day had started out so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the Feast went horribly wrong, but Padmé still has Sola. And Anakin has finally realized that he’s in desperate need of help. Padmé acknowledges that she needs help, but she’s not ready to do anything about it yet, while Obi-Wan is still in denial. At least there’s been some progress.


	21. Chapter 21

True to her word, Padmé started looking into counselors as soon as she had some food in her. She was grateful that there wasn’t a stigma against mental illness in most places on Naboo, so seeking help wasn’t considered to be shameful. That was the last thing Anakin needed, thinking there was anything wrong with asking for help. In Theed, it was normal for a person to see a counselor whenever they were having a hard time, so that meant it was a fairly common profession. But even though there was an abundance of counselors to choose from, she had no idea what Anakin’s preferences were. How old? What gender? What kind of setting? Padmé looked into those who specialized in childhood trauma, and that, at least, really narrowed it down.

She was still at the dining table when Anakin and Obi-Wan showed up. She didn’t know what Obi-Wan had told Anakin about the previous night, but Anakin didn’t seem angry or annoyed, just tired. He greeted her quietly and sat in the chair farthest from her before he started to peel a le’eno. She didn’t doubt that he picked that fruit because it was notoriously difficult to peel. It would give him something to focus on.

Obi-Wan sat across from her, and next to Anakin, with a nod and a warm smile. At least what happened wasn’t making things awkward between them. “I see you ate already,” he said as he pointed at her empty bowl.

“Yes, well, I hadn’t eaten much yesterday, so I woke up starving.” Holding up the datapad, she said, “I’ve found 11 counselors, but I need to look into their backgrounds a bit more.”

“You’re not wasting any time.”

She shrugged.

It didn’t escape her attention that Anakin stared at the fruit, and then his empty plate, the entire time they sat there. Padmé still couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable around him, but she hated seeing him like that. “Would the two of you like to go out on the lake?” she asked as she shut her datapad off.

Obi-Wan leaned away from the table. “I’m not too fond of Naboo’s marine life.”

“We’d be staying on the surface,” she said with a laugh. “There are only harmless fish in this part of Naboo anyway.”

Obi-Wan looked skeptical, but he agreed.

Anakin remained silent.

“Ani, would you like to go?”

He looked up as if he’d been startled. “That sounds like fun,” he said halfheartedly.

Padmé hadn’t been on the _Thrisole_ in many years, but she still remembered how to operate it. Her father used to take her and Sola out when they were young, and he’d shown her what all the buttons and levers did. None of her handmaidens were thrilled about her taking the boat out, though, and Saché and Moteé nervously watched from the shore.

She let the boat go at a leisurely pace for a few minutes, but when she saw that Anakin was only sitting in his seat, staring at the floor, she gave more power to the engine. Obi-Wan, who was standing, nearly fell over, and he looked back at her with terror in his eyes. Padmé grinned and made a sharp right turn, which would have sent him flying if he hadn’t been holding onto the grab rail. Anakin was holding onto his seat, and when he finally turned to look at her, he just seemed confused.

“Padmé, slow down!” Obi-Wan shouted.

Saché and Moteé were waving their arms in the distance.

“You’re just as bad as Anakin!” he said as she increased the speed a little. “ _Please_ slow down!”

“But I’m having so much fun!”

Then Anakin stood and walked up to the helm. “You should slow down.”

She did, only because he was giving her a very tiny smile.

When the boat was back to the speed it started out at, Obi-Wan plopped into one of the seats. “I saw my life flash before my eyes.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, Obi-Wan,” Anakin said.

“Oh, that’s rich, coming from you,” he replied grumpily, but he was smiling.

Anakin had some life to him again, so her plan seemed to have worked.

When Padmé brought the _Thrisole_ back to the island, both of her handmaidens were glaring at her.

“What? I knew what I was doing.”

“No more joy rides,” Moteé said firmly, to which Padmé reluctantly agreed.

After they got inside, she motioned for Anakin to follow her. Handing him her datapad, she said, “Tell me if any of these jump out as immediate ‘no’s.”

She expected him to breeze through the profiles, but he actually took his time. It seemed that he really was serious about getting help, and that put a lot of pressure on her. What would happen if he spoke with the wrong person? What if it went so badly that all the progress he’d made since leaving the Order simply vanished? Padmé would have to be very careful about who she chose.

“No men or masculine-aligned people,” Anakin said as he handed it back to her. “The rest seem fine.”

She had a feeling he would say that since many of the people who had treated him poorly fell into those categories. So that made the list go down to seven. “I’ll do some research on them and let you know.” Then she looked at Obi-Wan, who had been watching them from across the room with an expression she couldn’t quite place. “Would you like me to find anyone for you?”

That caught him off guard. “What? No, I don’t need . . . I’m fine.”

Anakin gave him a weary look. “If I can admit I need help, why can’t you?”

“It’s alright,” Padmé intervened. She didn’t want them to start fighting. “Let him go at his own pace.”

“Are . . . are we okay?” Anakin asked haltingly as he turned back to her.

She smiled at him. “Yes, we’re okay.”

\------

Since Obi-Wan was helping the handmaidens cook dinner, Anakin took his place in helping Padmé do research on parenting. Her handmaidens seemed to like Obi-Wan more than him, but he wasn’t sure why. Padmé said that they didn’t know the truth about what had happened a few days previous, so it wasn’t like they thought he was abusive. Anakin would know if they hated him. They were very protective of Padmé, and if they felt he was a danger to her, they’d confront him about it.

“You know, I have no problem with you and Obi-Wan sleeping together.”

It was a subject they all seemed to be tiptoeing around. Obi-Wan had told him that they’d only kissed that night. If they _had_ slept together after what he’d done, it would have felt like they were trying to punish him. Logically, he knew it wasn’t fair to think that, and Padmé would be annoyed that he was trying to make it all about him. And it wasn’t. It was about Padmé, and she deserved better. Obi-Wan deserved better, too.

Padmé just stared at him, eyes wide.

“I know both of you would still love me,” he said with a shrug.

She looked away from him for a moment before her mouth quirked into a small smile. “In my old timeline, when Obi-Wan and I first had sex, you were there. You didn’t participate physically, but we included you in little ways.”

That sounded like a _really_ good idea, but Anakin wasn’t sure if she was offering or only telling him what had happened once before. “Why was I there?”

“We were afraid you would decide you couldn’t stand either of us being with someone other than you. If you actually saw it and were fine, then we knew it wouldn’t be an issue in the future.”

“Was I fine?” He wondered if there was a reason they had doubts about him.

“At first, I wasn’t sure, but then it became obvious that you liked what you were seeing _very much_.”

Anakin found himself hoping that they would let him watch whenever they did get together. And if he could join them for round two, even better. “Well, at least if shielding doesn’t work by the time you get . . . desperate, you can go to Obi-Wan.”

She frowned at him. “Don’t make it sound like I’d just use him for sex.”

Cringing, he waved his hands back and forth. “That’s not what I meant, I swear!”

Then he heard a cough from the other side of the room.

“I came into a very bizarre part of the conversation,” Obi-Wan said, an eyebrow raised.

“I was only telling Padmé that the two of you could have sex,” Anakin blurted out. He immediately realized how that sounded, but he thought he could salvage it. “Not that you need my permission, of course. And only if you want to. I mean, I just wanted both of you to know that it wouldn’t bother me.”

Obi-Wan gave him a strange look, and Padmé’s eyes were practically begging him to stop talking.

Anakin sighed. “Can someone please just throw something at me the next time I start to dig a deeper hole for myself?”

Obi-Wan smirked. “And where would be the fun in that?”

“I’m guessing dinner’s ready?” Padmé asked with a chuckle.

“It is.”

After Padmé told Obi-Wan what new information she found on the Nabooian mountain community, they started flirting with each other. Just because Anakin was terrible at it himself didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize when others were doing it. Obi-Wan was a natural if he was in the right mood, and Padmé had told Anakin that she thought the contrast was funny since he had spent so many years around Obi-Wan.

They started laughing, and Anakin didn’t even know what was so funny since he hadn’t been paying attention. He’d suddenly become a third wheel. Although he could probably insert himself into their conversation without them batting an eye, he felt too uncomfortable to even bother. He just couldn’t understand why they weren’t even looking at him.

Padmé’s laughter was dying down, but then Obi-Wan actually snorted, which startled him and caused Padmé to laugh so hard she was holding her side. Anakin smiled at them a little. The jealousy was still there since he hated being left out, but he was trying so hard not to get angry around Padmé. After what had happened the last time he lost control, his anger only made him feel ashamed of himself. So he was going to let them have their fun. After all, he just wanted them to be happy. They could be happy with him, too . . . right?

Looking at his half-empty plate, he realized that his appetite was nonexistent. He wanted to leave because the longer they ignored him, the sharper the pain in his stomach got. But then the talking and laughing suddenly stopped, and he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Padmé asked.

Anakin shrugged off her hand and stood, unable to look at either of them. “I’m just tired.”

Which bed would he sleep in, though? He didn’t have his own space like Padmé and Obi-Wan did. Although he knew there were extra bedrooms, he didn’t want to be near Padmé’s room because he was sure that was where they would both end up for the night. Anakin had nowhere to go.

Obi-Wan gently tugged on their bond, but Anakin put his shields up and walked out.

He went to the top floor, which turned out to be a mostly empty, circular room with a dim light in the middle of the ceiling. Anakin had no idea what it was used for, if it was ever used at all. There was a couch near the lone window, so he went over and sat on it, which caused the dust to puff up around him. He coughed and tried to wave the cloud away. Obviously, no one had been up there in quite some time. His eyes stung, and he wanted to blame that on the dust, but he knew better.

Anakin really thought he could handle it. He was fine with them spending time alone together, but when they acted like he was invisible . . .

He lied down on his side and awkwardly tried to make himself fit on such a small couch. Then the tears came. Anakin didn’t even know why he was crying. He had pushed them together. He had _wanted_ them to fall for each other because he thought it would make everything easier in the end. But what if they abandoned him? What if they got tired of all his issues, and when Master Windu showed up, they just told him to take Anakin back with him?

It was getting harder to breathe. All the dust he was inhaling with each gulp of air probably wasn’t helping. Between the poor lighting and his vision being blurred with tears, Anakin didn’t see the door open, but he did manage to see someone rushing towards him. He didn’t want anyone near him, so without thinking, he pushed them away with the Force.

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan shouted.

When he wiped his eyes, he saw that Padmé was on the floor, and she looked terrified. He had just done what had _killed_ her in the future. Covering his face with his hands, he said “I’m sorry” between sobs over and over again. Anakin didn’t know what to do anymore. All he did was create one mess after another. He used to think he was a failure as a Jedi, but in reality, he was a failure as a person.

***

Padmé watched Anakin completely fall apart in front of her as she tried to take deep, calming breaths. It hadn’t been a hard push, so she wasn’t hurt, and he clearly wasn’t angry. None of it was the same, but she still felt a brush of heat against her skin. She focused on the sound of Anakin drowning in misery, and that somehow helped to keep her grounded in the present. It made her feel horrible, though, using his pain in such a way.

After Padmé carefully got to her feet, Obi-Wan was suddenly at her side, and it was obvious that he was completely overwhelmed by the situation.

“I’m fine, or I’ll be fine.” She inclined her head toward Anakin. “Help him.” She couldn’t do it herself, not yet.

But Obi-Wan didn’t move.

Padmé had never seen Anakin that far gone before, and judging by Obi-Wan’s panic, neither had he. The sight of Anakin hyperventilating and shaking, combined with the agony that was leaking through his crumbling shields, banished all memories of Mustafar from her mind. She could push her discomfort aside for a little while.

Slowly, Padmé walked up to the couch and knelt in front of him. “Ani, it’s alright. Please calm down.” She wasn’t sure if touch would help or only make it worse, but she took a chance and stroked his hair. Anakin gradually stopped crying, but his breathing was still erratic. Padmé thought back to what Yané had done the one time she had a panic attack in front of her. Never having witnessed something like that before, it had terrified Padmé, but that made the memory easy to pick out. “Take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can.” Bloodshot eyes locked with hers. “Please, Ani.”

He took a shaky breath in and held it while she continued to stroke his hair. Once he let it out, she told him to do it again. She lost count of how many times he did it, but after he stopped, he was finally able to breath at a normal rate.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. It sounded like it hurt to speak.

“I know, but we’ll talk about it later. Do you think you can stand?”

He shook his head.

Padmé looked at Obi-Wan and found that he still hadn’t moved from his spot. “Obi-Wan,” she said sharply, and his head snapped in her direction. “Carry him on your back. We’re not leaving him up here.”

Obi-Wan did as he was told, but with Anakin not holding on at all, it wasn’t an easy task to complete. He had to lean forward just far enough that Anakin wouldn’t fall backward or to the side, but if he leaned too far, they’d both go tumbling down the stairs. When they reached the bedrooms, Padmé asked Anakin where he wanted to go, but he didn’t respond, so she waved Obi-Wan into her room. After he deposited Anakin onto the bed, Obi-Wan looked at her as if asking what to do next. He was so useless that Padmé wanted to scream.

“Get his boots off.”

They both undressed him before they maneuvered him into the middle of the bed. At least she didn’t have to tell Obi-Wan to stay.

Anakin didn’t utter a sound the entire time, and he had a faraway look in his eyes. It broke her heart, but she couldn’t bring herself to get too close to him when she lied down.

Between nearly reliving the moment of her death and worrying about Anakin’s mental health, it felt like it took hours for Padmé to fall asleep.

When she woke up, she was lying on her side, facing Anakin. He was already awake—he might not have even fallen asleep to begin with—and when she moved slightly, he looked at her with swollen eyes. It was hard not to cringe at the sight of him.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a whisper.

Padmé was mildly shocked at the question since she was expecting him to just apologize again. “I am. How are you?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “I didn’t know it was you coming toward me, but I shouldn’t have done it anyway.” Anakin closed his eyes and pulled the comforter up so that only his head was visible. “Do you hate me?”

“Not in the slightest. If I hated you, Ani, I would have left you on that couch.” Why he would even think she could possibly hate him was beyond her. “Obi-Wan, go get a cold cloth.” Padmé couldn’t tell if Obi-Wan was awake, but she didn’t really care if he wasn’t. She was still mad at him for freezing up despite understanding why he did.

He sat up and frowned at her in confusion. Considering how quickly he reacted, he must have been awake for some time.

“For his eyes,” she clarified. “It will reduce the swelling.”

Obi-Wan only nodded and went into the attached fresher.

Turning her attention back to Anakin, she asked gently, “What happened?”

He curled in on himself a little in response.

If she didn’t feel like it was something her or Obi-Wan had done that caused him to become so upset, she’d let him open up in his own time, but she was afraid of repeating whatever mistake they’d made. After Obi-Wan reached over Anakin to hand her the cloth, she instructed him to lie on his back before she gave the cloth to him to put over his eyes. Then she tried again. “Was it something we did?”

“It sounds childish,” he finally said.

“We won’t judge, right, Obi-Wan?” She knew he could be overly critical sometimes.

“Yes, of course.”

She nearly rolled her eyes at his offended tone.

Anakin took a deep breath and said quietly, “I felt like I had no place with both of you. You were having a good time together, which was fine, but . . . neither of you even made an effort to include me, so I started thinking that you’d abandon me. It’s stupid, I know, but in the moment . . . ”

Padmé felt awful. She hadn’t meant to ignore him. He had been practically silent that she just sort of forgot he was there. It wasn’t until Obi-Wan looked at Anakin with such concern that she realized anything was even wrong.

Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin’s arm. “Anakin, stop,” he said wearily. His cybernetic hand was slowly crushing his organic one, and when he let go, Obi-Wan took Anakin’s left hand and examined it for any breaks.

Lifting the cloth so that she wouldn’t startle him, Padmé leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “I am so sorry.”

It was still rather new, all three of them being able to spend so much time together. Padmé had thought they’d figured out how to be in multiple relationships, but she was obviously wrong.

While Obi-Wan rubbed his thumb across the back of Anakin’s hand, he looked as close to crying as Padmé had ever seen him. Not even after Anakin had turned to the dark side had Obi-Wan looked so ready to just let it all out. That only proved to her that he was close to his breaking point.

“I’m sorry, Anakin. I should have noticed sooner.” Then he turned to Padmé, shame radiating from him. “And I’m sorry that I was no help at all. I’m just not very good at dealing with . . . I have no idea what I’m doing.”

Padmé started laughing as she sat up, causing both Obi-Wan and Anakin to jump slightly. She couldn’t help it. “We’re all such disasters!”

“I fail to see any humor in that,” Obi-Wan said irritably.

Anakin gave her a tiny, hopeful smile. “So we’re okay?”

She knew he was talking about her reaction to him. Giving his shoulder a squeeze, she nodded. “We have to get better at communicating with each other, though. I can’t promise that I’ll never do that again, because I might, but if you or Obi-Wan ever feel that I’m not being inclusive, you guys have to tell me that. No matter how awkward it might make the situation, it’d still be better than what would happen if nothing was said at all.” Then she winced. “Not that I’m blaming you for what happened. I just wish you’d said something to us instead of leaving the room to cry by yourself.”

“Alright,” Anakin said after a brief pause.

Padmé kissed his forehead. “Now that we have very little in the way of distractions, we really need to put some work into this,” she said as she gestured to the three of them. “And, Obi-Wan, you _have_ to talk about what’s been bothering you. I don’t care who you talk to, but it will only poison our relationships if you keep this up.”

“There’s no point in talking about it,” he said as he looked away from her.

“Yes, there is. No amount of meditation is going to solve the problem.”

He turned back to her with fire burning in his eyes. “Well, I don’t know how else to be! You can’t expect me to change overnight!”

His anger was nothing like Anakin’s, so she didn’t shrink away from it. “I have never said that you should, but you aren’t even trying!”

Anakin sat up, holding his head. “The shouting is only making my headache worse,” he muttered. “Wait until I’m out of the room before you continue.”

After he walked out, probably to go into Obi-Wan’s room, Padmé sighed and pushed her hair away from her face. “I just hate seeing you like this. You’re acting like everything is fine, but I know it’s not.”

“You’re doing the same thing,” Obi-Wan pointed out softly.

She knew he was right, but they were only going to keep talking in circles since neither of them would back down.

Suddenly, her treacherous stomach decided she was long overdue for a mad dash to the fresher. Because she hadn’t had any bouts of nausea for the past few days, Padmé had thought she was finally free of it. At least it was only dry heaves. Then she felt a hand on her back, and she looked up to find Obi-Wan kneeling beside her.

“We may be disasters, but we’ll get through this.”

“Of course we will,” she said with a smile. “We’re too stubborn to give up.”

“Are you alright?” Anakin asked as poked his head in.

“Yes. Can someone hand me the blue bottle that’s next to the sink?” It contained some kind of herb in pill form that her midwife had given to her. Padmé hadn’t taken it yet since she wasn’t a fan of pills, but she was willing to try just about anything at that point. “Thank you,” she said as Anakin handed it to her. “And can you fill that glass with water please?”

“Sure. What are you taking?”

“Something that’s supposed to help with the nausea.”

At least Anakin seemed to be acting more like himself. He wasn’t as good as Obi-Wan when it came to bouncing back from a terrible experience, but he was just as adept at hiding his pain when he really wanted to. That made it harder for her to know if he was actually okay or just pretending that he was. Padmé decided that she was going to finish her background checks and pick one of the counselors from her list that day. She just wished she knew what would convince Obi-Wan that he needed the same kind of help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They all need to figure out how to balance their relationships before Padmé gives birth because they won’t have nearly as much time for that afterward.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for details of Anakin’s past as a slave.

After he showered and got dressed, Anakin made his way down to the kitchen to try to find the ingredients that would get rid of Padmé’s nausea. He had finally heard back from his mother about what she used to make whenever his stomach hurt. Anakin was sure that no pill could work as well as his mother’s recipe.

Dormé was already there, cooking what looked like some kind of broth. They greeted each other, and Anakin noticed that her eyes lingered on him. Then she left. With a shrug, he began going through the cabinets. He only needed three ingredients, but he wasn’t sure how widespread they were in the galaxy. Maybe they were specific to Tatooine.

Then Dormé returned and handed him something. “For your eyes,” she said before she went back to stirring the broth.

It was a bacta patch. Anakin didn’t feel any pity from her, so it was probably just an act of kindness, as odd as that was to him. “Thank you.” Staring at the patch, he wondered if he should ask her for help. It would be quicker than going through the numerous cabinets and drawers. “Do you know if we have any yitsa root, tovinn powder, and karnat?”

Dormé blinked at him and frowned. “I can’t say that I’ve heard of any of those.”

Anakin sighed. He had no idea what could be used as substitutes. He should have asked his mother that in case he couldn’t find them.

“Why do you need such things?”

“It’s for Padmé. I was going to make a drink that would help to settle her stomach.”

“I’m going into Theed later today,” she said after a moment. “If you want, you can come and see if those items can be found in the marketplace.”

Maybe having some time away from Varykino, that didn’t lead to seeing Padmé’s parents, would be good for him. “Okay.”

Anakin grabbed some fruit before he headed for the sun room. He’d rather go outside, but it was raining, so being in a room with transparisteel walls was close enough. He put the bacta patch over his eyes and ate his breakfast.

 _Are you alright?_ Obi-Wan asked through their bond.

_I’m fine. I’ll be going to Theed with Dormé later._

_Oh._

Obi-Wan didn’t say anything after that, but Anakin felt his concern. He had no idea why he was worried. What did he think was going to happen? Or did he think Anakin was trying to avoid them? Really, he wasn’t.

A few hours later, they were on their way to the capital city. Anakin hadn’t seen Padmé or Obi-Wan since that morning, but he let Obi-Wan know that he was leaving. He’d forgotten how long it took to reach Theed, and since he didn’t really know Dormé, he couldn’t think of anything to talk about. It wasn’t the most uncomfortable silence he’d had to endure, though.

“Even if I hadn’t caught you two together, I would have figured it out,” Dormé said randomly. “You’re both terrible at being subtle.”

Anakin smiled a bit. “Yeah, I know.”

“I admit that I didn’t think it was a good idea for Padmé to get involved with a Jedi since it would have to be kept a secret, but you make her happy.” He saw Dormé glare at him out of the corner of his eye. “I hope you and Obi-Wan know that if either of you hurt her, you’ll have to face our wrath.”

Anakin wanted to say he would never hurt her, but he knew he was actually capable of that, and he’d already hurt her emotionally. He thought it was a little funny that he hadn’t even gotten that threat from her parents. Maybe they felt it was implied. “We’re aware.”

A few minutes passed before Dormé said, “Considering how charming Obi-Wan can be, I always get thrown off by how awkward he is.”

Anakin laughed. “Oh, it’s all an act. He’ll flirt with anything that moves, but he’s secretly dying on the inside.” _Unless it’s with me or Padmé._ He then proceeded to tell her a few embarrassing stories about Obi-Wan. At first, it seemed like she was trying to be polite, but she quickly gave that up and started laughing along with him. Dormé wasn’t so bad once she loosened up a little.

As soon as they reached Theed, she told him where to drop her off and when to pick her up, and she gave him directions to the marketplace, which wasn’t too far from there. Luckily, it had stopped raining by that point. Taking money from Dormé didn’t bother him since it was actually Padmé’s money, and he’d been using it for weeks, but he didn’t think he’d need the amount Dormé had given him. Were things really that expensive in Theed?

The marketplace was a lot bigger than he thought it’d be. Unlike other markets he’d been to, this one wasn’t disorganized. Those who were selling similar goods were grouped together. It wasn’t all stalls, either. It was mostly actual stores. There was definitely an upscale feel to the marketplace, which made Anakin slightly uncomfortable. He had originally wanted to do some browsing after finding the ingredients, but the longer he walked around, the more he just wanted to get his stuff and leave.

Eventually, he found a store that sold medicinal items, and he figured that was a good place to start. Anakin went up to the shopkeeper and asked if they carried the items he was looking for, but they gave him a funny look.

“Well, I’ve never heard of yitsa root, but you’ll only find tovinn powder and karnat on slum worlds. Tatooine probably has them, but between the climate and the people, I don’t suggest ever going _there_.”

Instead of feeling anger at the comment, Anakin felt shame. It was one thing for him to criticize Tatooine, but whenever he heard others say that it and its habitants were worth less than dirt, it made him feel like a little slave boy all over again.

“Okay, thanks,” he mumbled and walked out.

There were other shops that might carry what he needed, but he didn’t want to risk getting a similar answer, so he just went back to the speeder. Dormé wouldn’t show up at the meeting spot for at least another hour, but he wasn’t in the mood to go exploring. He had no one to talk to either. There was too much distance between him and Obi-Wan to reach him through their bond, and he didn’t have his holocomm to contact Padmé or Ahsoka. Considering he’d barely slept at all, he decided to take a nap in the speeder while he waited for Dormé.

It felt like he’d only closed his eyes for a few seconds, but when he opened them, Dormé was just getting in. She looked in the back seat. “No luck, I take it?”

Anakin shook his head. Then he hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is it common for the Naboo to look down on those who are less fortunate?” He figured it was safer to ask Dormé since Padmé would probably get offended.

She didn’t look surprised by his question. “It’s common in Theed, but I can’t speak for anywhere else on Naboo. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone who’s from Theed is like that.”

“Padmé’s not like that,” Anakin said.

“Padmé isn’t from Theed. Her family didn’t move here until she reached school age.”

Anakin felt embarrassed for not knowing where Padmé, his own wife, was actually born, but at least Dormé didn’t point that out.

“I grew up in Theed, and there is this harmful notion that people should be treated differently based on their social status. Those on the top have very little understanding of what life is like for those on the bottom, and they forget that not everyone has the same opportunities as them. Even Padmé, who is a very compassionate person, can fall into this sometimes.”

Although Anakin usually hated it when people said anything bad about Padmé, he had to admit that Dormé was right. Padmé could be a little ignorant about certain issues.

“She doesn’t want to talk about what happened at the Newlywed Feast. Was it that bad?”

It took a moment for Anakin to register the subject change. “Her parents found out about Obi-Wan, and they didn’t take it well.”

She nodded. “I had a feeling that was what happened.”

“None of you think it’s strange, the three of us?” He’d been curious about that for a while, considering the handmaidens were technically living with them.

“We do, actually, but as long as she’s happy, we’re fine with it.”

Anakin thought she hadn’t seemed to be very happy lately, and he knew that was his fault. Hopefully, once he started seeing a counselor, that would change. The more he thought about talking to someone, the less it scared him. He just wanted to get better.

When they returned to Varykino, he thanked Dormé for the suggestion, even though he hadn’t found what he was looking for. Then Artoo came out of nowhere and rammed straight into his leg.

“Ow! Artoo!”

Dormé chuckled as she walked away.

_[I’m tired of being ignored.]_

“I’m not ignoring you,” Anakin said as he rubbed his leg. “There’s just a lot going on right now.” In response to that, Artoo took out his electric pike, and Anakin quickly backed away. “Alright, alright! I’m sorry! How about I give you a good scrub down, huh?”

Artoo retracted the pike and beeped cheerfully.

He got some cleaning supplies from one of the handmaidens and set to work in the sun room. Again, he wanted to go outside, but the rain had come back. Padmé had told them that the weather during the summer months was rather unpredictable.

“I really am sorry, Artoo. Everything’s been a mess, or I should say _I’ve_ been a mess.”

_[You don’t look damaged.]_

“While I look fine on the outside, my cognitive module isn’t working very well.”

Artoo whistled sympathetically. _[Have you seen someone to get it fixed?]_

“I’m going to.”

_[Good. I don’t want you to malfunction.]_

Anakin gave him a small smile and patted his dome. “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be okay.”

Then he sensed Obi-Wan presence. There was still some level of unease between them because of what Anakin had revealed that morning.

“I think Artoo has been feeling neglected,” Obi-Wan said.

“That’s why I’m cleaning him.”

“Why did you go to Theed?” he asked as sat on the nearby couch.

Going back to his scrubbing, Anakin said, “I was looking for ingredients my mother used to settle my stomach when I was a kid. The drink tasted awful, but it worked every time. I’d forgotten about it, and then I had to wait for my mother to get back to me because I didn’t know how to make it. But I couldn’t find them.” He frowned as he scrubbed harder. “Apparently, those sorts of things are only found on ‘slum worlds.’”

“I hope the person who said that is still in one piece.”

He threw down the brush he was using and turned to face him. “Seriously? _That’s_ your reaction?”

Obi-Wan looked startled. “What?”

Anakin hung his head and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. They were long overdue for this particular conversation anyway. He took a deep breath, picked up the brush, and said, “I didn’t get angry. When people talk about my homeworld like that, it doesn’t make me want to defend it. It just makes me want to disappear because I’m reminded of how horrible my life was there.”

“You had your mother, so it couldn’t have been all bad,” he said tentatively. “Besides, you didn’t seem to be miserable when we first met.”

Anakin took another deep breath and tried to keep the anger at bay. He needed to stay clear-headed. “Yes, having her with me helped, but are you really going to base the emotional state of a nine-year-old slave on a single meeting?”

Luckily, Obi-Wan realized how insensitive he was being and looked away, cringing. “Good point. I apologize.” His nervousness was obvious even without being able to sense it through their bond. He probably knew what Anakin was going to talk about.

“Did you know that I was owned by a Hutt for a short time?”

“I did not,” Obi-Wan said quietly.

He picked up one of the smaller brushes to get to the harder to reach places. “Gardulla lost me and my mom to Watto over a bet when I was three. I do have some memories of that time, and when I’d asked her if being Watto’s property was better than being Gardulla’s, she only said that at least Watto let us have our own home.” Anakin tapped Artoo’s side so that he’d turn around. He didn’t want to move himself because then he’d be facing Obi-Wan, and he wasn’t ready to look at him yet. “I knew she’d had worse masters than Watto. She’d been sold a few times in her youth, and that was all she’d tell me. I didn’t actually want to know more than that.

“Once Watto realized how useful I was at such a young age, he would threaten to beat my mom instead of me if I didn’t work fast enough. Watto thought I was more useful than her, but the one time he did actually beat her, it still wasn’t to the point where she couldn’t work. I was forced to watch.” He had to pause so that the memory could pass. While his tone was almost casual, it truly was painful to talk about it, especially since he never had before. _I guess this is practice for when I see a counselor._ “I wanted to help her afterwards, but Watto made me finish my shift, and she’d patched herself up by the time I was allowed to go home. I was six years old, and all I wanted to do was protect her. That’s why leaving her to go with Qui-Gon was so hard. I couldn’t protect my mom anymore, and when I found out later that I couldn’t even have any contact with her, that I was supposed to _forget_ about my own mother, I would have horrible thoughts about what was being done to her in my absence.”

The despair from those early years at the Temple threatened to take over, but he pushed it away. His mother was fine. She was safe and loved. Anakin had to repeat that to himself a few times before he could go back to cleaning Artoo.

When he glanced at Obi-Wan, he didn’t look too affected by what Anakin was telling him, but the emotions he could feel through their bond made it clear just how upset Obi-Wan actually was. Anakin almost put his shields up.

“Slavery wasn’t just forced labor. It was desperately clinging to the idea of personhood even though it had been stripped from you. It was knowing that you were someone’s property to do with as they pleased. It was struggling to find just one good thing about your day so that you could get up for the next. And that stays with you. Meditation doesn’t change the past, and telling me to move on meant nothing. I did try, though. I tried because I wanted to be the perfect Jedi, even though I knew that was impossible for me because the only way that could happen was if I became an entirely different person.”

With Artoo looking bright and shiny, and Anakin no longer needing something to distract himself with, he stood and winced at the sound his knees made. He was much too young for that. Then Anakin sat on the couch and nearly jumped when he saw tears begin to roll down Obi-Wan’s cheeks. He’d never seen Obi-Wan cry in all the years he’d known him.

Obi-Wan reached up and wiped them away. “I’m sorry, Anakin. I only knew what I was taught, and I just wanted you to be the Jedi I knew you could be, but I never asked you what _you_ wanted, and I ignored your suffering because I was told that was for the best, but the Jedi were wrong about so many things, and my entire life has been based on a structure that only gives people the illusion of choice, and oh Force, I’m making this about myself when you just opened up about your _past as a slave_ , I am so sorry.”

As Obi-Wan put his face in his hands, Anakin just stared at him with wide eyes. He’d assumed that whenever Obi-Wan finally talked about whatever was bothering him, it would be done calmly. After all, Obi-Wan had so much time to think about it, and meditate on it, that Anakin hadn’t thought it would all come rushing out in a nearly incomprehensible mess. That was more Anakin’s style.

“It’s alright,” Anakin said eventually. “But I need you to understand, or there will always be this wall between us.”

Obi-Wan took a shaky breath. “I don’t think I ever truly can, even after Kadavo.”

“I don’t need you to understand what it’s like to be a slave. I need you to understand that my experiences shape who I am, that a lot of the choices I make, the view I have of the galaxy, are based on that. That’s what I was trying to tell you after we left Mandalore.” Anakin ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the back of the couch. He felt so exhausted after talking about his past, but they were nowhere near done. “Of course, there are other factors involved since I’ve had 12 years outside of slavery, but my childhood does play a big part.”

Obi-Wan looked at him as more tears streamed down his face. “I will try my hardest, and I promise to never spout the Code at you again. I know now that it was toxic for you . . . and for . . . and for me.”

That was something Anakin _never_ thought he’d hear Obi-Wan say.

He took another shaky breath. “I don’t actually regret being with the Order, but there is so much I have to unlearn. A lot needs to be changed, and I only hope that’s what they’re trying to do now. I . . . I don’t know who I am without the Jedi, and that terrifies me.”

Anakin put his arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders. He had suspected as much, but to actually hear him say it made his heart feel heavy.

“I’m sorry. I’m still making this about myself.”

Anakin shook his head. “It’s fine. I want you to talk about this. I opened up, so now it’s your turn.”

Obi-Wan was still crying, but he was silent. Anakin was almost glad because if Obi-Wan began sobbing, he’d really have no idea what to do. He now had some idea of how Obi-Wan felt whenever he cried in front of him.

“I love you.”

Anakin looked at him in mild shock.

“I know I don’t say it enough, but I do.”

“Well, it just makes the times when you do say it all the more special.”

“But it shouldn’t be like that. You and Padmé say it with such ease, and I feel like I’m forcing the words out. Love isn’t the Jedi way, and that’s what I was taught practically from birth. It feels like I’m having an existential crisis every time I think about how much I love you.”

Anakin frowned a bit. “Um, okay.”

Obi-Wan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I’m not good at this at all.”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” he said as he rubbed Obi-Wan’s arm. “I think you know by now that I do have patience when it comes to certain things.”

Obi-Wan actually rested his head on Anakin’s shoulder and held onto his hand, which made Anakin’s eyebrows shoot up. Obi-Wan _very_ rarely tried to get comfort from others, especially through touch.

“If you had chosen to leave the Order when you were still a Padawan,” Obi-Wan said softly, “I would have left with you.”

“What?” He couldn’t have heard that right.

“I wouldn’t have left you to fend for yourself, but I hadn’t thought that you would have returned to your mother, so I suppose you wouldn’t have needed me.”

Anakin would have missed him, though. _Why didn’t you tell me?_ “I didn’t know I could even leave until some years after I came to the Temple. I thought about going back to my mom, finding a way to free her, but I didn’t know how to actually do that, how to leave, I mean. Ahsoka was right. The whole thing is bantha fodder.”

“I know,” Obi-Wan said glumly before he sniffed.

Trying to lighten the mood, Anakin said, “You better not use my tunic to blow your nose.”

He laughed, but it was a broken sound. “I won’t.”

They were silent for a moment before Artoo let out a series of beeps and whistles.

_[I have no idea what’s going on. Do you need help with anything? Why is the karking meatsack leaking?]_

Anakin smiled. “No, I’m good, Artoo. Thanks.” Then he kicked his foot out a little in Artoo’s direction. “But stop calling him that.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “Do I even want to know?”

“He’s still mad at you for wanting to leave him at the Temple.”

“Why am I not surprised that your droid holds grudges?”

Artoo gave an indignant beep and rolled out just as Padmé walked in. Anakin realized that she must have been able to feel all that. He still wasn’t used to the fact that she was Force-sensitive. Anakin expected Obi-Wan to sit back up, but he stayed put and just wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand.

“I didn’t want to interrupt,” Padmé said as she stood in front of them, “but both of you seemed to have calmed down now.”

Obi-Wan squeezed Anakin’s hand in a way that he actually felt it. “You’ll be happy to know that I finally talked.”

She smiled at him. “Do you feel better?”

“I simply feel tired.”

Anakin held back a yawn. “I could go for a nap myself.”

“Then why don’t you both lie down?”

Anakin felt like Padmé was getting left out. He knew she was just trying to be supportive, but she was a part of their relationship, too. Before he could invite her along, though, she gave both of them a kiss on the cheek.

“I’ll see you at dinner,” she said as she walked away.

Eventually, they got up and slowly made their way to the bedrooms, Obi-Wan walking a little closer to him than usual. Anakin didn’t want to assume that he was welcome in Obi-Wan’s bed, especially since Obi-Wan would probably want some time alone to work through everything after he woke up. But as Anakin walked toward Padmé’s bedroom, Obi-Wan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

“I didn’t think you— I mean—”

Smiling fondly, Obi-Wan took him by the hand and pulled him into his room. He looked like he was about to collapse onto the bed, and that was basically what he did after he took his boots off. Obi-Wan usually had more grace than that, but he was probably too mentally exhausted to care.

Anakin laughed to himself at the sight of Obi-Wan lying face-down on the bed, fully clothed. Once he lied down, Obi-Wan rolled onto his back and then plastered himself to Anakin’s side. Such odd behavior was startling, but it certainly wasn’t undesirable.

“I truly am sorry, Anakin . . . for everything,” he whispered.

He was glad Obi-Wan immediately fell asleep after that because he had no idea how to respond. He _should_ be sorry, but Anakin didn’t want him to beat himself up over it. What was done was done, and as long as Obi-Wan made the effort to do what Anakin had requested, then everything would work itself out.

Holding Obi-Wan’s hand in his, Anakin fell into a dreamless sleep, and he woke up to find Padmé grinning at him.

“Dinner’s almost ready, so it’s time to get up.”

Anakin squinted at her. “Why are you smiling like that?”

“I can’t help it. The two of you look adorable.”

“I am a full-grown man,” Obi-Wan mumbled. “I am not ‘adorable.’”

Anakin looked down at him. He had moved in his sleep and was using Anakin’s chest as a pillow. “Be quiet, Obi-Wan. You’re incredibly cute, and you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”

As Obi-Wan groaned and Padmé laughed, Anakin felt a sense of tranquility settle within him. Yes, they were going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least they’re getting better at opening up to each other. And I enjoyed writing Anakin and Dormé. He needs to interact with people who aren’t Obi-Wan or Padmé.
> 
> In the next chapter, everyone’s favorite Togruta comes for a visit.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up right where the last chapter ended.

Padmé could tell something had changed between Anakin and Obi-Wan, but it was a little confusing. While Anakin seemed to be very content, Obi-Wan kept glancing at him with grief in his eyes. She wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask what they had actually talked about because it certainly had to be more than what had been bothering Obi-Wan. Instead, she brought up a related topic. “I contacted one of the counselors on my list, and I hope you don’t mind that I set up the first appointment for you.”

Anakin paused in reaching for his glass. “You only said you were going to look into them further. You even said you would let me know what you found, so it sounded like you’d give me that information and then I would choose who I thought would be a good fit.”

Padmé instantly realized that she’d overstepped. _Gods, Padmé, you talk about needing to communicate and look what you did._ At least he didn’t seem to be angry, just annoyed, which he had every right to be. “I’m sorry. I . . . really shouldn’t have done that.”

He sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. “No, you shouldn’t have. I let you get involved because I had no idea where to even start or what to look for, but I guess that was a mistake.”

Obi-Wan was looking back and forth between them warily.

“I was only trying to help, Anakin,” she said quietly, feeling like a horrible wife. She’d taken away his control. Padmé was so concerned with doing what she thought was best for him that it hadn’t even occurred to her to ask him how he wanted the situation to be handled.

His frown deepened, but she still couldn’t sense any anger from him. “That doesn’t matter. Why would you think it’s okay to not only pick someone for me but then schedule an appointment with them? I’m not helpless.”

“I know you’re not,” Padmé said as she looked down at the table. “I’m sorry. I’ll cancel it.”

Anakin sighed. “Why did you pick them?”

“Well, she’s spent a lot of time offworld, so you wouldn’t have to worry about her having a narrow perspective. I even managed to find out that she funds a small group that helps resettle former slaves.” Padmé felt his surprise. She had thought that piece of information alone signified that Anakin was meant to talk to her.

He stared at her for a bit, expression still conveying his annoyance. Then he rubbed his eyes and said, “Give me what you found on her, and I’ll decide if I want to cancel the appointment or not. When is it?”

“In six days.”

“In Theed?”

Padmé nodded as she took the napkin from her lap and set it beside her plate. She’d lost her appetite, but at least she’d managed to eat a little more than usual.

His demeanor softened as he finished eating, and Obi-Wan gradually relaxed. That could have turned out much worse.

After dinner, Obi-Wan excused himself to go meditate, but before he could leave, Anakin gave him a tender kiss. Although no words were exchanged, Padmé felt like they were talking to each other through their bond. At some point, she would have to mention that she didn’t like it when they did that in front of her.

When it was just the two of them, Anakin took Padmé by the hand and led her to the sun room. It was a clear night, so they could see the stars when he dimmed the lights. Taking a chance, she rested her head on his shoulder, and his arm went up around her to pull her in close. Padmé let out a blissful sigh, thankful that he had apparently forgiven her. After a few minutes passed, she said, “I’m glad you and Obi-Wan seem to have worked out some of your issues.” She was hoping that would get him to say what those issues actually were.

“I talked about my childhood for the first time.”

That was unexpected. Padmé always tried her best to steer clear of that particular topic because she knew how much it distressed him. Did Obi-Wan bring it up, or did Anakin talk about it willingly?

“And Obi-Wan actually called the Code toxic.”

Padmé lifted her head to look at him, eyes wide. _That must have been quite the conversation._

Anakin kept his gaze out at the night sky. “I’ve never seen him cry before. It’s always a relief to be reminded that he is actually a person with emotions, but I hated seeing him that upset. It made me want to punch everyone on the Council.”

“Only after I get my turn.”

He laughed and finally looked at her. “I think it will be easier for me to open up to a counselor now. You do understand why that bothered me, right?”

Padmé knew what he was referring to. “Yes, I understand.  It’s something I have to work on, not letting myself get blinded by my good intentions. It was a problem that arose a few times when I was Queen.”

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll speak up if I think you might be doing something like that again. As you said, we need to get better at communicating.”

“We’ll get there,” Padmé said as she cupped his cheek.

Anakin bent down and kissed her.

She was so happy that her mistake hadn’t changed anything between them. “Do you want to . . . ” Padmé was willing to give it a shot. She just hoped that her shielding was enough since Anakin had said he wasn’t sure if he could keep his up during sex.

He nodded and kissed her again, suddenly much more eager, but when she straddled his lap, he raised his eyebrows and looked from side to side. “Wait, here?”

Padmé smirked at him. “Why not? There isn’t anyone outside at this time of night.”

“But there’s no door.”

She always did get a thrill at the idea of being caught, and she knew Anakin was the same way. Padmé showed him how much she cared about the lack of privacy by grinding down onto him.

They decided to remain clothed, and as he pulled his pants down far enough to free himself, she put up her thin shield. She wasn’t sure if she could keep it in place when she’d be so distracted, and as soon as she lowered herself onto him, she felt her shield crack slightly. _Well, I clearly need a lot more practice._

Even though Padmé was desperate, she went at a slow pace and waited a minute before sliding her hand between her thighs. Soon enough, she was beginning to feel his emotions through both of their shielding, but her pleasure was stronger. Maybe it helped that she knew what to expect from him, so instead of becoming overwhelmed by his love, she embraced it. That was probably why it took such a long time for Obi-Wan and Anakin to sleep together. She couldn’t see Obi-Wan easily accepting such a strong emotion.

Padmé rode him harder as she got closer to release, and when it finally hit her, she felt a warm tingling sensation that ran down to her toes and made her eyes roll back. It had been far too long since she felt that satisfied. Anakin followed her soon after with a soft cry. Padmé tucked her head into the crook of his neck while her body calmed down, overjoyed that they wouldn’t have her Force sensitivity hanging over them any longer. Adoration still coming off of him in waves, Anakin rubbed his hands up and down her sides as he whispered how much he loved her.

Padmé leaned back and kissed him. “I love you, too, Ani.”

No matter what was to happen in the coming weeks or months, nothing was taking Anakin away from her.

\------

Glancing at the illuminated chrono on the wall, Anakin held back a sigh. He’d only been asleep for about two hours, and it looked like he was in for a rousing time of staring at the ceiling. Taking that nap earlier in the day probably hadn’t helped. He wondered if Obi-Wan was also having trouble, but a quick peek through their bond revealed that Anakin was alone in his suffering.

He looked over at Padmé and brushed a lock of hair away from her face. It was always hard to stay mad at her, even when his anger was completely justified. Anakin knew she only thought she was being helpful, that she didn’t actually believe he was incapable of making his own decisions. Although it felt a little silly, he was proud of himself for staying calm. No yelling, no tears, just a sense of vexation that slowly melted away.

Trying not to disturb her, Anakin carefully got out of the bed and decided to head down to the kitchen. He always got hungry when he couldn’t sleep, which had been extremely inconvenient on missions when rations were low. As he got closer to the kitchen, he realized that he wasn’t the only person who was up and about. It seemed one of the handmaidens also had the idea of getting a snack.

“Hello,” he said quietly, not wanting to startle her.

She jumped anyway and spun around with guilt shining in her wide eyes.

Anakin wasn’t sure why she was projecting so much nervousness, but he didn’t think it was actually directed at him. Maybe she was afraid of getting into trouble for rummaging in the cooling unit in the middle of the night. He held up his hands as he walked farther into the room. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“It’s alright,” she whispered. “I didn’t know anyone else was awake.”

He thought her name was Moteé. Despite living with the handmaidens for two weeks, Anakin was not much better at being able to tell who was who. Dormé was the only one he could easily recognize. “You’re Moteé, right?” He felt like a jerk for asking, but it was better to know for sure than accidentally call her by the wrong name.

Luckily, she nodded. “I couldn’t sleep, so . . . ”

“Late-night snacks help you, too?”

Moteé smiled a bit. “It’s a tradition of sorts in my hometown to eat shaak pudding if you have trouble sleeping.”

Anakin could have sworn a shaak was that fat, grazing animal he tried to ride once. A pudding made from blubber? Anakin couldn’t stop himself from making a face at the thought.

She raised her hand to her mouth and giggled. “It’s not actually made from shaaks. It’s just the name.” Moteé reached back into the cooling unit before she tossed something to him. “While the pudding tastes sweet, it actually has very little sugar in it, so it won’t make it even harder to go to sleep.”

Anakin looked at the small container and shrugged. He’d eaten some truly awful things by the time he was five, and he doubted shaak pudding could taste any worse than sand beetles. After he grabbed two spoons and handed one to Moteé, he opened the container and took a sniff. It didn’t really have a smell, which was something he had learned to be wary of, but he took a bite and hoped for the best. Anakin didn’t want to offend her by not eating the entire thing. Surprisingly, it was actually rather good, even though the sweetness tasted different from what he was used to. Before he knew it, half of the container was gone.

“You like it?” At his nod, she said, “When I first left home to start my training as a handmaiden, I got made fun of for eating it. It’s seen as something only lower class people eat.”

The memory of getting laughed at by the other Padawans for liking “strange” foods suddenly came to him. “I know what that’s like,” he said quietly.

Moteé gave him a sad smile, and they finished their puddings in silence.

“Do you mind being here?” Anakin asked after he threw the empty container out. “I mean, Padmé’s not a senator anymore, so you technically don’t have to stay.”

“None of us mind. We could have left once she was no longer Queen, and some of us did, but we enjoy what we do. Besides, just because she’s no longer involved with politics doesn’t mean she’s not a target. Padmé made many enemies throughout the years.” She threw out her own container and leaned against the counter, regarding him with a mixture of curiosity and something he couldn’t place. “And we get to live here free of charge. In fact, she’s paying us the same salary we used to get from the government when she doesn’t actually have to, so doing the cooking and cleaning doesn’t bother us.”

He had thought about offering his help, but he’d been a little intimidated by them. Over the past two weeks, Anakin had gotten the feeling that they merely tolerated him while they genuinely liked Obi-Wan. At least he knew that wasn’t the case for Dormé.

“If you ever need any help,” he said cautiously, “please don’t hesitate to ask.” Anakin hoped he wasn’t being rude by offering. He only knew the customs Padmé had told him about, but he didn’t think he was stepping over any boundaries.

Moteé pushed herself away from the counter and walked up to him. Then she looked into his eyes for what felt like ten minutes before she smiled and gave his right arm a tap with two fingers. That was something Padmé had said was both a greeting and a farewell between new friends, so he awkwardly repeated the gesture.

“Have a good night,” Moteé said as she walked past him, still smiling.

“You, too.”

Anakin stood there for a moment and realized he should have tried to reach out to the handmaidens earlier. Feeling tired enough to go back to bed, he went up to Padmé’s room and quickly found that sleep was no longer eluding him. He would have to thank Moteé the next time he saw her.

\------

Ahsoka landed on Naboo with a grimace. The weather was so awful that it’d made flying somewhat terrifying because she wasn’t used to handling a ship in such strong winds. Being in the spaceport was a relief, and she sat in the pilot’s chair for a couple of minutes before she reached for her holocomm. Ahsoka had wanted to surprise them, but she had no idea where they were located, so she would have to ask Padmé.

“Hey, so where are you on Naboo?”

Padmé cocked her head to one side. _“Why do you ask?”_

“Because I just landed in Theed,” Ahsoka replied with a smile.

She actually gasped. _“Really? That’s so great to hear!”_

Ahsoka made her promise not to say anything to Anakin or Obi-Wan. Her arrival could still be a surprise to them as long as she kept her shields up, but that meant she would have to find them without using the Force. She didn’t think that would be difficult until she saw what Varykino looked like. Her jaw dropped at the sheer size of the place. Just trying to find the entrance was a challenge, but once she did, she was greeted by one of Padmé’s handmaidens. Apparently, Padmé had told them to expect her.

Ahsoka followed the handmaiden’s directions and found Padmé sitting at what looked like a small dining table with multiple datapads spread out in front of her. Once Padmé saw her, she slowly got to her feet and held out her arms for a hug that Ahsoka was happy to give.

“Are you alright?” Ahsoka asked, noticing her pale complexion.

“I’m just tired,” she said as she sat back down and gestured to the chair across from her. “The pregnancy takes a lot out of me sometimes. How are you?”

“I’m doing a lot better. Steela’s helping me, but I’m not relying on her since that wouldn’t be fair.” Ahsoka wondered if Padmé would get offended that she hadn’t asked for her help, but she’d actually been okay with only Steela’s, and to some extent Saw’s, support. Ahsoka had been able to handle a lot of it on her own. Just knowing she didn’t have to if it got especially bad was a big comfort. “I’ve been meditating a lot as well.”

“Have you thought about getting professional help? I don’t know how readily available that is on Onderon, though.”

Ahsoka shrugged. “I’m doing alright without it for now.”

Padmé studied her for a moment before she nodded. “Anakin is seeing a counselor tomorrow.”

Her brow-markings shot up. “He agreed to that?” Had being away from the Order changed him that much?

“He wanted it.”

Ahsoka thought that something big must have happened, but since Padmé wasn’t volunteering that information, she wasn’t going to ask. Anakin could really use the help, though. Even without whatever issues that had been caused by the Order, what Palpatine did to him was enough to need a professional.

“What are all the datapads for?”

Padmé didn’t bat an eye at the change in topic. “One is for news from Coruscant, one is for research on parenting, one is a journal of sorts of my pregnancy, and the other is for research on triads.”

That term didn’t sound familiar to her. Maybe it was a Nabooian thing. “What’s a triad?”

“It’s what the three of us are. A few problems have come up lately, so I thought I’d do some reading on the subject.” She shrugged, probably trying to signify that it wasn’t anything too serious.

Ahsoka could imagine how difficult it must be, especially with Anakin involved. He could be so overly dramatic. Just trying to make it work with one person was exhausting, so she had no idea how they’d managed to keep it going for as long as they had.

“How far along are you?”

“Almost 12 weeks.” She sighed and patted her stomach. “Only 44 to go.”

Ahsoka asked her some questions about it that she didn’t think were considered personal, and she quickly realized that pregnancy was an awful experience. Why would anyone want to go through all that? While Ahsoka liked kids, she had no desire to raise any, so she couldn’t understand why someone would want to deal with months of horror to have one. _Force, just adopt!_

Ahsoka’s thoughts must have shown through her expression because Padmé chuckled and said, “My symptoms are amplified because I’m Force-sensitive, and it being Anakin’s child probably isn’t helping. It sounds a lot worse than it actually is.”

Then Anakin walked in and froze.

Grinning, Ahsoka stood as he ran up to her. She was expecting a hug, but not one quite so tight. It was almost hard to breathe. Closing her eyes, she hugged him back with just as much strength. Ahsoka had missed him a lot. There had been times when she wanted to go to Naboo, but she knew she wasn’t ready. Now, Ahsoka was finally at the point where she was starting to make peace with everything that was wrong with the Order.

When she dropped her shields, she was hit with relief and joy. She sent her own happiness to him along their still-present training bond. Of course he wouldn’t have severed it. She knew that, but the fear had been lurking in the back of her mind.

“How long are you staying?” Anakin asked after they let each other go.

“I don’t want to intrude . . . ”

Padmé shook her head. “Nonsense. Stay as long as you like. We have the space.”

Ahsoka had a feeling she would say that. “Well, I’d told Steela that I’d be gone for a couple of weeks.”

“Great! We have so much to catch up on!” Anakin said excitedly.

As he led her out of the room, Padmé called out to him to bring her back in time for lunch.

While they walked through the retreat, she noticed that Anakin seemed more content. He’d never been able to spend so much time with Padmé before, and he’d probably had even less time with both her and Obi-Wan together. Anakin always did seem to be at his happiest when he was around the people he cared about.

He took her to a room with transparisteel walls that jutted out from the rest of the building. “This is my favorite room,” he said as he plopped onto the couch. “I just wish the weather was nicer.” As if it was mocking him, a rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance, and he frowned up at the sky. “So how have you been doing?” he asked as he angled his body toward her.

“Better. I’m trying to get rid of the unhealthy aspects of Jedi life while keeping the ones that work for me.” She shrugged. “I mean, not all of it was bad. It just should have been taught in a different way. And I feel a lot more comfortable as a civilian now.”

“Have you found steady work yet?”

“No, but I do odd jobs here and there in town, so while I don’t have a reliable income, I can at least help out Saw and Steela.” Then Anakin smirked in a way she knew meant he was going to start teasing her about Steela. She shoved him and said, “Everything is fine with Steela. We’re taking it slow.”

“Slow is good.”

She raised a brow-marking at that. “Really? Because you don’t seem like the type who’s all for taking _anything_ slow.”

“Hey, I resent that!” Anakin crossed his arms and pouted a little, but she knew he was only acting. “I didn’t even sleep with Obi-Wan until a few weeks ago.”

She crinkled her nose. “Okay, I really didn’t need to know that.”

“I was just trying to make a point.”

“And I don’t want to know about your sex life.”

He was back to smirking. “Then I’ll be sure to keep it down tonight.”

“Anakin!” He laughed as she whacked him on the arm. “That’s gross. You’re like a brother/father to me.” Anakin went silent as soon as the words left her mouth. Ahsoka hadn’t actually meant to say that, and she could feel her face getting hot under his stare.

“A ‘brother/father’?”

She looked at the storm clouds and saw a streak of lightning. It was beautiful, the way it lit up the darkened sky. When he gave her a gentle nudge through their bond, Ahsoka looked back at him and saw hope in his eyes. Sighing, she said, “You’re a combination of the two, but there isn’t a word for that in Basic.”

Then Anakin gave her what she could only describe as a shy smile. “Even though I’m not that much older than you, you’re like a daughter to me. Because of you, I feel like I won’t be a terrible parent. I mean, I know I was only your teacher for two years, but you grew a lot in those two years, and I am _so_ proud of you, Ahsoka. I just . . . ” He made a strange gesture with his hand as though it would help him to find the right words. “I’m really glad you were my Padawan.”

There was a warmth in her chest that had nothing to do with the emotions she was feeling through their bond. It wasn’t the first time Anakin had told her he was proud of her, but there was something about the moment that made it feel special. Maybe it was because he felt comfortable enough to tell her just how much he cared about her.

She smiled back. “And I’m really glad you were my master.”

“Teacher,” he corrected, holding up one finger. “I’d rather not use the term ‘master’ anymore, not in that context.”

Ahsoka nodded, wondering what had prompted the change.

“Hello, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan said as he walked in. He had to have sensed her presence the second she dropped her shields, but he probably wanted to let her and Anakin have some time alone together.

There was something different about the smile Obi-Wan was giving her, but she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. She got up and hugged him because why not? They were family, and it’d been a while since she’d last spoken with him. Surprisingly, his hesitation didn’t last very long before he hugged her back. _Something definitely happened._

“I hope you’re well,” he said.

“I am. No more breakdowns for me.”

“I wish I could say the same,” Obi-Wan said casually as he sat next to Anakin, who was giving him a slightly concerned look.

Ahsoka blinked at him. Did Obi-Wan just admit to having a breakdown? She wasn’t sure how to approach that, so she pretended that she hadn’t heard it. When she sat back down, she noticed that Anakin and Obi-Wan were very close to each other because of the amount of space on the couch. Strangely, Obi-Wan didn’t seem to be bothered by it at all.

“What exactly do all of you do here? It’s pretty remote.” At Anakin’s smirk, she pointed at him and shouted, “Don’t you say it! I swear to the Force, you’ll regret it if you do!”

Anakin laughed as Obi-Wan just looked between the two of them like he didn’t even want to know what was going on.

They talked until it was time for lunch, and she found out that life at Varykino was boring, but it was the good kind of boring. When Anakin said they still sparred, she asked if she could join them because she felt woefully out of practice. Saw could only help so much in that category since she was afraid of hurting him by accident.

There was a calmness between Anakin and Obi-Wan that hadn’t existed before. It permeated the room and made her feel relaxed, as if she’d just come out of a productive meditation session. Associating calmness with Anakin was odd to her, but she was happy that he had found some measure of peace, even if it was only temporary.

On the way to the dining room, she smiled up at Anakin.

“What?”

Ahsoka shook her head and bumped into him. “Nothing.”

It was kind of nice not having to cook her own food. While Ahsoka liked cooking, it could be exhausting sometimes. She was a little worried about how little Padmé had put onto her plate, but she had said that the pregnancy was making her feel nauseous a lot.

About midway through the meal, Ahsoka decided it was time to bring up the news she was sure they’d want to hear. “So I’ve been in contact with Barriss.” All three of them stopped eating, and she realized that she probably should have waited until after lunch. “She’s been keeping me updated ever since I got to Onderon.”

“How is it at the Temple?” Anakin asked warily.

“Chaotic. Barriss said that the Order is split. One side wants change, and the other thinks everything is fine as it is, but there are more on the side of change because of Palpatine. A lot of Jedi feel like the Order has been dragged down by the Sith, and they think the only way to get out of Palpatine’s shadow is to enact meaningful change. Barriss is sort of the unofficial leader of the Padawans who don’t agree with the status quo, but there’s no one leading the Knights or Masters.

“The movement for change is largely unorganized because not everyone can agree on what kind of change is needed. Some want to do away with the Code entirely, but they’re thought of as too radical by most. Others think giving people a choice about whether to let the Jedi take their children or not would be enough. And no one knows what’s going on with the Council because they’ve pretty much been keeping to themselves, but Barriss thinks there’s a lot of infighting.”

Padmé was looking down at the table while both Anakin and Obi-Wan were looking at her like they were starved for information. She expected that from Obi-Wan, but she was surprised Anakin cared that much. Maybe he was just concerned with the hunt for him.

“Everyone knows you escaped,” she said to Anakin, “but not many are actually concerned about it. They’re too focused on the Order. Barriss thinks that most Jedi will only worry about you if you try something, so as long as you don’t suddenly become a Sith and try to take over the galaxy, no one will care what you do with your life.” That came out a little harsh, but he seemed to be relieved.

“Perhaps we won’t have to remain in hiding,” Obi-Wan said after a brief silence.

Padmé finally looked up. “We should wait to see what Mace says.”

“Master Windu?” Barriss had very little idea where anyone on the Council fell on the issue, except for Yoda, who was very much for everything staying the same. There had been a few rumors that Master Windu was thinking about opposing Yoda.

“As soon as he gets the chance, he’s coming here to speak with Anakin,” Padmé clarified.

Maybe she could find out what was going on within the Council and let Barriss know.

Slowly, they went back to eating, and just as Ahsoka finished what was on her plate, she had to stifle a yawn. It must be nighttime on Iziz. “Hey, would it be alright if I lied down for a little while?”

“Of course,” Padmé said as she got up. “I’ll show you to your room.” They walked in silence for a bit before she said, “I’m glad that there are Jedi who are serious about wanting change. Do you know if Yoda is still sending out people to hunt Anakin down?”

Ahsoka shook her head. “That’s a Council matter.”

“Right, and no one knows what they’re up to.” She stopped in front of a door. “I asked Dormé to have your bag put in here.”

“Thanks. Um, where’s your room?”

She pointed to a door that was a couple meters down the hall. “Anakin stays with me unless I’m in a bad mood, and Obi-Wan’s room is directly across from mine.”

Ahsoka was surprised that Obi-Wan had his own room, but she didn’t question it. She knew that even if they were quiet, she’d feel something in the Force, and it wasn’t like it was possible to put up mental shielding during sleep. Sometimes, being Force-sensitive could make certain situations rather uncomfortable. _Maybe it won’t be an issue._

The room was a decent size, and the bed looked inviting. The view from the window made her realize just how beautiful that part of Naboo was. She’d spent the majority of her life on Coruscant, so being out in the country felt a little strange, but she could understand why Padmé would want to spend her pregnancy there.

Ahsoka was asleep within minutes of hitting the mattress, and she woke up from light prodding through her Force bond with Anakin. Rolling over, she saw him smiling down at her.

“Hey, Snips.”

She sat up and stretched. “Were you being creepy and watching me sleep?”

“No, I only came in here to wake you up, I promise.”

“How long was I out for?”

Anakin shrugged. “A few hours.”

“That’s good. I shouldn’t have any trouble sleeping tonight.” She nudged him out of the way with her foot and grabbed her boots.

“I’m really happy that you’re here, Ahsoka,” he said quietly. His gaze was directed to the floor, and just for a moment, he looked so much younger than he actually was. Then Anakin was back to his usual self. “You should bring Steela next time.”

“Why?” Ahsoka stood and put her hands on her hips. “So you can try to embarrass me?”

Feigning offense, he gasped. “I would never!”

She nearly snorted before she smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re getting help, and I know you’re going to be a great father.”

Silently, he wrapped her up in a hug that was much gentler than the one from earlier.

Ahsoka wondered just how many times he’d wanted to hug her while they were still Jedi. Now that he was free to act however he wanted, within reason, it made sense that he would be so much more open with his feelings. Ahsoka was learning how to be more open herself, and she had to admit that living the Jedi way had been a little stifling.

“We should go raid the kitchen for sweets,” Anakin said as they walked out of her room. “There’s a lot to choose from because Padmé’s cravings for sugary things has only gotten worse with the pregnancy.” His smile was nearly blinding. “And Naboo has the best cakes.”

How could she say no?

\------

It was finally the day of Anakin’s appointment with the counselor. After he’d looked at everything Padmé had found on the woman, he’d decided not to cancel it. Of course, if he wasn’t happy with her, Padmé would just give him all the information she had on the other counselors on her list, and he would decide who to try next. And if none of the others looked good to Anakin, she would show him how to navigate the database.

She wished she could go with him for moral support, but she had her own appointment with her midwife, so only Obi-Wan would be there. Anakin had tried to back out of going so that he could be with Padmé, but it was just a check-up. Not wanting to make a big deal out of his first appointment, she’d only given him a kiss on the cheek and wished him luck. At least his nervousness had gone down a little by the time they left.

Ahsoka was fascinated with everything Padmé’s midwife, Tess, was doing. She would ask questions and then immediately apologize, as if she thought silence was needed. But Tess only smiled and answered every question good-naturedly.

When she began doing a scan to check on the baby’s growth, her eyebrows nearly shot up into her hairline. “Well, this changes things,” she muttered to herself.

Padmé tried to stay calm. Tess didn’t look worried, so it couldn’t be bad news.

“Congratulations! You’re having twins!”

“Twins?” she said weakly.

Padmé had gained enough confidence that she thought she could raise one child, but two at the same time? And that would complicate so much. Her pregnancy was already worse than the last one, and Padmé was terrified about giving birth twice in a row. She knew there were excellent facilities in Theed that would make it as simple and pain-free as possible, but something could always go wrong, and multiple births increased the chance of that happening. Then there was Anakin and Obi-Wan, but she was more worried about Obi-Wan’s reaction. He’d finally seemed to be okay with being a parent, but now that there were going to be two children at once, he might decide it was too much for him.

Ahsoka was a lot happier about the news. “There’s going to be _two_ cute babies!”

Tess confirmed that everything looked fine, and she gave Padmé some information about what to expect when pregnant with twins. Because she wanted to keep a closer eye on Padmé ,Tess moved the next appointment up a few days.

Padmé was barely registering what was happening around her. She just kept thinking about all the ways her life could go wrong. Still, nothing would be as horrible as the future.

Ahsoka sat in front of her. “Hey, are you alright?”

She snapped herself out of it and tried to give her a reassuring smile. “Yes, I’m fine.”

“Anakin is going to be so excited.”

“And Obi-Wan will panic,” Padmé said flatly.

Judging by the look on Ahsoka’s face, she agreed. “If he tries to do something stupid, like leave, I will gladly talk some sense into him.” Then she took Padmé’s hands and gave them a slight squeeze. “Don’t be so nervous. It’ll be pretty rough in the beginning, but I don’t doubt that you’ll become a total pro. Those kids are going to be so lucky to have you as their mother.”

Padmé tried to let go of her worries. She’d been through so much, and she could definitely get through this. “Thank you, Ahsoka.”

“Of course. Now, have you thought about names?”

She had a few in mind.

\------

Anakin had put his shields up before he went in, so Obi-Wan had no idea how the session was going. He figured it couldn’t be too bad, or Anakin would have walked out already. He was still impressed with how Anakin had handled Padmé’s mistake. If it had been Obi-Wan, even he would have gotten angry. It showed that Anakin was serious about keeping his temper in check. After Anakin had shown him what Padmé had found on the counselor, he had to admit it was a good choice, but he could tell that Anakin had actually been hoping the opposite was true, just to make a point.

When the hour and a half session was finally over, Anakin came into the waiting room looking a lot more relaxed than when he left it, but Obi-Wan asked him how he was anyway.

“Better. I have another appointment in three days since she was able to squeeze me in.”

Obi-Wan was relieved.

Anakin didn’t say anything more until they were on their way back to Varykino. “She feels the Council had been abusive toward me from day one.”

“Abusive is a strong word,” Obi-Wan said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Anakin glanced at him. “But the way she explained it, that’s what it was. The Jedi took me from my mother at nine years old and told me that my fear was dangerous while refusing to even acknowledge that I’d spent my entire life as a slave. I never truly realized how much that single moment has influenced me.”

“Qui-Gon didn’t force you to leave Tatooine,” he pointed out. “It was your choice.” It would probably take years for Obi-Wan not to feel the urge to defend the Order.

“Remain a slave or become a Jedi.” Anakin’s grip on the steering controls tightened. “What kind of ‘choice’ is that?”

“Weren’t you already freed by that point?” At Anakin’s frown, Obi-Wan said, “I’m not trying to be antagonistic. I just want to understand your point of view.”

The tension left Anakin’s body almost instantly. “If I hadn’t left with Qui-Gon, Watto would have reclaimed me since my transmitter chip could be reactivated. Besides, where would I even go? I wouldn’t want to leave my mom, and she was still a slave.”

The damn chip couldn’t even be removed because it was too close to his spine. Obi-Wan found himself wondering if that had only been an excuse, if the healers hadn’t actually care about removing it since it was deactivated and therefore harmless. He knew it bothered Anakin that it was still inside him. Perhaps he could go to a medcenter in Theed to see if they could remove it.

“I thought that by becoming a Jedi, I could return to Tatooine and free the slaves,” Anakin said quietly.

Obi-Wan remembered how much Anakin had wanted to free his people. At the time, he’d felt that while Anakin’s heart was in the right place, it was a naïve dream. “You suddenly stopped talking about it, though.”

“That was because of the reactions I got from everyone at the Temple, especially my teachers. _Attachment_ , they would say.” His eyes narrowed. “I’d never be a Jedi if I couldn’t learn to _let go_. It was glaringly obvious that none of them cared about slaves or anyone who truly needed help.”

“That’s a little harsh.”

Stopping at an intersection, Anakin looked at him. “But am I wrong?”

Obi-Wan knew he wasn’t, so he remained silent. He had told Anakin that the Jedi could only do so much, and he hoped that Anakin hadn’t translated that into “Obi-Wan doesn’t care about slaves, so he doesn’t care about me.” He was constantly learning of new ways he had failed Anakin.

“I’m sorry,” Obi-Wan said as he tried to release his misery into the Force.

Anakin only nodded, and they were both quiet until Varykino could be seen in the distance. “I’m going to go back to Tatooine and free them.”

Obi-Wan had been waiting for him to say that. “It would take a long time to accomplish that. When do you plan on doing such a thing?”

“I don’t know, but you can’t convince me not to.”

“I wasn’t going to.” Obi-Wan hesitated before he said, “If there’s anything I could do to help . . . ”

Anakin was clearly caught off-guard by that. After pulling up to the shoreline and shutting the engine down, Anakin turned to him and rested his hand on Obi-Wan’s knee. “I’d let you know.”

When Anakin finally dropped his shields, Obi-Wan wasn’t expecting the love that flowed across their bond. If that meant Anakin had forgiven him for his past mistakes, he didn’t know, but at least he wasn’t mad at him.

As soon as they stepped inside the retreat, they looked at each other in alarm. Something didn’t feel right. Worried that Padmé’s appointment hadn’t gone well, they rushed to the sitting room only to find Padmé and Ahsoka talking with each other like everything was fine.

Noticing their arrival, Ahsoka stood and coughed. “I’m going to help with dinner.” As she walked passed them, she glared at Obi-Wan. What had Padmé told her?

“Sit,” she said as she patted either side of her.

“How’d it go?” Anakin asked. “The baby’s okay? _You’re_ okay?”

She smiled, but she seemed a bit tense. “We’re fine, but I received some very surprising news. I’m having twins.”

Obi-Wan’s stomach dropped. There were going to be _two of them_? He’d only just convinced himself that he could handle one, but two screaming infants . . .

Anakin recovered from the shock much quicker. “That’s terrific!” he exclaimed while he gave Padmé a hug.

Padmé locked eyes with Obi-Wan after Anakin pulled away. There would be no escaping this time. “Remember, there are three of us. We’ll help each other out, and it will all be fine.”

“They’re going to love you,” Anakin said with much confidence.

If at least one of them knew what they were doing, it would probably be alright. Obi-Wan had to believe that he would manage somehow. He took a deep breath and released his anxieties into the Force. “We’ll have to do a lot of research on this.”

Padmé smiled and kissed his cheek. “Of course.” Then she turned to Anakin, her nervousness returning. “How did the session go?”

“Good.” He placed his hand on Padmé’s stomach, an expression of awe on his face. “I like her. I’m going back in a few days.”

She put her hand over Anakin’s. “I’m so glad to hear that, Ani.”

He smiled at her before he said, “I want in on all the research. I don’t care how tedious it will be. I want to help.”

Not that Obi-Wan thought Anakin wasn’t serious about being a parent before, but now it truly felt like they were all in it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we finally have an idea as to what’s going on back at the Temple. Also, twins! (Of course I was going to bring Luke and Leia into the story.)


	24. Chapter 24

For once, life was actually treating Anakin well. He was going to be a father to two children, he got to see Padmé every day, Obi-Wan was actually making an effort to understand him better, he was reunited with Ahsoka, and his first therapy session gave him hope that he wouldn’t always feel so broken.

But of course all of that had to be ruined.

Mace Windu would be arriving any minute. Anakin thought he would have given them more of a heads up than saying he’d just landed in Theed. Padmé was convinced that he was going to side against Yoda, but even Obi-Wan was skeptical. It didn’t really matter, though. Anakin knew he was going to say something wrong, and it probably wouldn’t take much since Windu hated him. He wished he hadn’t agreed to the meeting.

Anakin felt Windu’s presence as soon as he entered the building, and his entire body tensed up. He took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down, but his anxiety only lessened when Obi-Wan sent a wave of peace through their bond. Anakin made a mental note to ask his counselor if she knew of any calming techniques since the ones that the Jedi used didn’t really do much for him most of the time. Once Windu appeared in the doorway of the sitting room, he and Obi-Wan stood, both ready for a confrontation.

But Windu ignored them and looked at Ahsoka, brow furrowed.

“She’s visiting,” Padmé explained. “Please, sit.”

After he did, Anakin noticed the bags under his eyes, and he even looked a little thinner. The war had been over for nearly month, so why would he look worse? Maybe Barriss really wasn’t exaggerating about the situation at the Temple.

“How has the Council been lately?” Obi-Wan asked as if he was talking about the weather. Considering how he left the Order, and that he used to be on the Council, it was a bold question.

Windu narrowed his eyes before saying, “There’s been a lot of turmoil, and no one can agree on how to move forward.” He turned to Padmé. “You helped put that bill forward about the clones, right?”

“Yes, why?”

He crossed his arms as he sat up a little straighter. “Well, it was recently discovered that the clones had chips implanted in their brains. One of the chips had malfunctioned, but since healthcare was a part of the bill, it was found early enough that the clone survived. I doubt he would have made it if he had to go all the way to Kamino. We had 20 other clones scanned, and they all had the same chip in the same location, but we can’t figure out what their purpose is. Jedi have been sent to Kamino to investigate.”

Anakin’s mind instantly went to slave transmitter chips, but that made no sense. What would be the point of implanting a chip to secure obedience if the clones didn’t even know they existed? Well, Anakin assumed they didn’t know about them. He’d spent enough time around his men that it would have come up in conversation at least once.

“I think they’re for mind control, to make the clones turn on the Jedi,” Padmé said, which had everyone snapping their head toward her.

“Why do you think that?” Windu asked.

Anakin tried to get her to look at him so that she could see the desperate plea on his face not to say it.

“Did Yoda tell you about me?” she asked instead.

“I know you’re Force-sensitive, but neither of us can figure out how that’s possible.”

“It’s because the Force brought me back.”

Keeping his expression neutral, Anakin put his shields up carefully so as not to draw attention to himself. Windu would get suspicious if he sensed the dread that was beginning to take hold of him, but he would also wonder why Anakin suddenly felt the need to use his shielding.

“Back from what?”

“Death.”

His eyebrows rose as he leaned back in his chair. “You died?”

“In the future. That’s how I knew Palpatine was a Sith Lord.”

“Then why didn’t you come to us?”

Anakin nearly laughed at his offended tone, like he couldn’t understand why someone wouldn’t trust the Jedi. Anakin hadn’t been surprised when Padmé told him the public had readily believed that the Jedi had become the enemy. The Order was too secretive, and that made people nervous. Hardly anyone outside the Order understood how it operated or what its members were actually capable of. Civilians were only told that the Jedi were peacekeepers, yet they had become soldiers in a war that had gone on for much longer than anticipated. Of course Palpatine’s lie had been taken as truth.

“The Jedi confronting him didn’t work out so well in the future.” That was putting it lightly, but the details weren’t important. “The clones attacked the Temple and massacred everyone inside. Even the clones away on missions killed Jedi. I couldn’t find an explanation for that, but these chips are the most likely cause.”

Windu was a master of not letting his expression betray his thoughts, and his mental shields had gone up the second he’d walked in the room. “I sense that there’s something you’re not telling me,” he said slowly, his eyes on Anakin.

If Windu found out what he’d done in the future, it would all be over. Convinced that Anakin was a threat that couldn’t be ignored, he’d try to take him back to Coruscant. Anakin had to force himself not to look away. _That won’t happen. I will not set foot inside the Temple against my will._

“You turned to the dark side and became Palpatine’s apprentice,” Windu said before he turned back to Padmé. “But you stopped that from happening. You actually saved us all.”

Padmé shrugged, like it was no big deal that she helped take down a powerful Sith Lord.

“I’m surprised you believe her,” Ahsoka said.

“Why wouldn’t I, at this point? We’ve all been following a Sith Lord’s lead for over a decade and didn’t know it, so I clearly don’t understand the Force as well as I thought.”

That caught Anakin off-guard. He was so used to Windu’s confidence in the Force. Whenever someone was unsure of what to do, Anakin had heard him say to trust in the Force, but now Windu probably felt like he’d been abandoned. Maybe he had been questioning every decision he’d ever made because that trust had led him to fight a war for the Sith. Anakin knew Windu had been suspicious of Palpatine, but only as a corrupt politician. None of them, not even Yoda, had ever thought Palpatine was the Sith Lord they’d been looking for.

Windu sighed and got to his feet. “I would like to speak with Anakin now.”

His eyes widened slightly. Anakin could count on one hand how many times Windu referred to him by his given name. While it was odd to hear his name come from the man’s mouth, he supposed it was a good sign.

Feeling a tug on their bond, Anakin lowered his shields. _I don’t think there’s any reason to worry, dear one,_ Obi-Wan sent to him as he and Windu walked into the attached study. So Obi-Wan was clearly with Padmé in thinking that Windu was going to stand against Yoda. Anakin wasn’t so optimistic.

After he shut the door, Windu just stared at him, and Anakin had to fight the urge to start fidgeting.

“I would like to apologize,” he finally said, “for how the Council has treated you all these years.”

That was the _last_ thing Anakin imagined he’d hear from him, but what was he actually apologizing for? He doubted that Windu understood the full extent of what being in the Order had done to him. Not even Anakin himself was fully aware of that, as evidenced by the few things his counselor had pointed out to him as being incredibly harmful. Would Yoda stop the hunt for him if Windu no longer backed it? While Yoda was the head of the Council, both of them were the leaders of the Order.

“But that doesn’t mean you aren’t a cocky, insubordinate, melodramatic pain in the ass.”

Not knowing how to process that after receiving an apology, Anakin could only blink at him.

“I know you tried your best,” he said, his voice taking on a somewhat gentler tone. “Who am I to judge when I let the Order fall to such a low point? I’m through with doing what Palpatine expected of me, even though the man is dead.” Frowning, he looked off the side. “But if the Senator could come back, and she wasn’t even Force-sensitive at the time . . . ”

Anakin shook his head. “Going by Palpatine’s reaction to finding out what had happened to Padmé, I don’t think he had any knowledge of such power. From what we can tell, there was no outside interference. It really was just the Force bringing her back.”

“Well, that’s something at least.”

They stood in silence for a moment. Anakin wasn’t sure what Windu was trying to accomplish by speaking with him, but it couldn’t have been just to let him know he was sorry. There was one thing that Anakin had to get out, and he knew this was the perfect opportunity. “I haven’t fallen, no matter what Yoda has said.”

“I know.”

Was he being serious? Maybe Windu was trying to lure Anakin into a false sense of security before delivering the killing blow, literally or metaphorically.

“Although I doubt I can stop the search for you, you’ll be happy to know that you’re not high on our list of priorities right now.”

That sounded like he was willing to let Anakin go. _This has to be a trap of some kind._ “Doesn’t the Council see me as the new Sith threat?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what kind of threat _do_ you see me as?”

Windu crossed his arms. “Just a general threat to the Order. The Council is afraid that you’ll try to destroy us.”

He’d already done that in another life, and he had no interest in repeating that. “As long you let me live in peace, I really don’t care about the Order. I’m going to be a father, so I want to focus on raising my children.” He narrowed his eyes and took a slightly defensive stance in front of the door. “Is the Order going to try to take them?”

“I didn’t even know she was pregnant,” he muttered. “Wait, there’s more than one?”

“Padmé’s having twins.”

Windu seemed to think it over. “We have the legal right to take them, but it won’t be worth it. We’d have to fight both you and Obi-Wan, and the Senator will raise hell about it.”

Anakin dropped his stance and cocked his head to one side. “I’m surprised Padmé told you about Obi-Wan.”

“What about Obi-Wan?”

Eyes wide, Anakin shook his head quickly. “Nothing!”

“You mean to tell me,” he said as he massaged his temples, “that Senator Amidala is in a relationship with Obi-Wan as well? That the _three of you_ are all involved with each other?”

Anakin remained silent, cursing his big mouth.

“It makes sense now, why Obi-Wan and Tano broke you out. The Senator told Obi-Wan about the Council’s decision to lock you up permanently. We should have seen that coming anyway, especially since we knew she was at least friendly with him.”

“I’m not going to forgive you for that,” Anakin declared, his anger finally breaking through. “I’m sure you voted in favor of it.”

He would always be bitter about how they’d treated him after Palpatine’s death, like he was a wild animal that would snap at the first provocation. It was better to chain the animal up rather than kill him, just in case they had need of him later on. They probably thought he’d do anything if they’d let him see his lovers. But the Council was foolish to think that they could put chains on a former slave and not expect him to use every drop of power he had to be free again.

“I won’t deny that,” Windu said calmly. “With the facts we had at the time, it seemed like the best option. That’s why I wanted to speak with you. Do you really plan on just having a family and go on living the domestic life?”

He tamped his anger down as much as he could. “That was what I’d been planning on doing after the war was over, so yes.”

“After everything, that’s what you truly want?”

“Yes, and a slave revolt, but that’s further down the line.”

Windu merely raised an eyebrow at that. “And what will you do for work?”

“I’ll figure something out. It’s not as though my only talents are with a lightsaber.”

He stared at Anakin for some time before the tension visibly left him. “You really do just want to be left alone.”

Anakin couldn’t believe how reasonable he was being. Maybe Windu didn’t hate him after all.

“I’ll see what I can do about Yoda, but I can’t make any promises.” He walked toward him, and Anakin moved out of the way, assuming they were done. “You better not prove me wrong.”

“I won’t,” he stated with a confidence he actually felt.

\------

Considering Anakin had kept his shields down, Obi-Wan knew that the talk had gone well before they walked out. Still, it was a relief to see the look of pleasant surprise on Anakin’s face. He would ask him what was discussed later.

“Obi-Wan, a word,” Mace said.

Obi-Wan followed him out into the corridor, wondering if he should have insisted that they speak in front of the others. He would not be keeping any secrets, no matter how much Mace would insist that it stay between them. But Obi-Wan was getting ahead of himself.

“The Order is a complete mess right now,” Mace said as they walked at a leisurely pace, “but I believe it can recover, if the Force wills it.”

It felt strange to him to be walking next to someone in Jedi robes while he was in civilian clothing. He suddenly realized this was his first conversation with a Jedi after he left the Order. “I think that’s why the Force brought Padmé back, to let us know that the Jedi have been on the wrong path. In her future, the Order was destroyed, and the Republic had fallen. Palpatine ruled over the entire galaxy as the leader of the Galactic Empire.”

“With Anakin at his side.”

Obi-Wan stopped walking and tried to decipher Mace’s tone. Rather than sounding accusatory, it felt like he was simply making a statement. “I don’t think it was that straightforward.”

Mace turned to face him and nodded after a moment. “There’s nothing straightforward about manipulation, but I’m sure he still had a choice.”

“I won’t excuse his actions. However, I still don’t know the circumstances, and I never will. But none of that ultimately matters because Anakin won’t ever fall to the dark side. You don’t have to worry about him.”

“He does feel different in the Force, a bit calmer,” Mace admitted. “I didn’t even sense the dark side when he got angry.”

Obi-Wan knew it was still there, but it had become muted over time. Because Anakin was no longer under the pressure to conform, he wasn’t bottling up his emotions to the point of bursting. While Anakin would clearly always be an emotional person, if he could express himself in healthy ways, the dark side might actually leave him completely. At least, that was what Obi-Wan hoped would happen, but even if it stayed with him for the rest of his life, it wasn’t as if Obi-Wan would stop loving him.

“We never should have accepted him. Anakin wasn’t meant to be a Jedi,” Mace said gravely.

“He wasn’t meant to be the type of Jedi we had all wanted him to be. Anakin wasn’t the problem. It was the Order.” It seemed that if the criticism was coming from a third party, his urge to defend Anakin was stronger than his urge to defend the Order. “If you’re serious about change, then the Code needs to be updated, and maybe you shouldn’t take children in when they’re so young. I believe that the Force has been trying to show us that we need to change, that our way of life has become harmful. The Order had been going downhill even before Palpatine became the Chancellor.”

Mace only looked mildly shocked. “I’ve been communing with the Force quite a bit lately, and updating the Code seems to be a good place to start, except Yoda will never agree to it. He is wise, but he is also too set in his ways.”

Obi-Wan wasn’t about to argue with that. “What do you think it will take?”

“I’m not sure,” Mace said with a sigh. “I just want what’s best for the Order.”

Despite no longer being a part of it, Obi-Wan wanted that as well. But if the Council still thought that Anakin’s imprisonment was crucial to the Order’s survival, he would fight them with everything he had. “Do you still regard Anakin as a threat?”

Mace shook his head. “I’ll see what I can do about stopping the search for him.”

“Thank you,” Obi-Wan said, relieved. He had thought Mace would be the most difficult Council member to convince, and with his position as co-leader of the Order, he would be their best ally.

Mace crossed his arms. “Also, I can’t believe how much you had us fooled. I always knew you were too attached to Anakin, so I wasn’t _that_ surprised about your relationship with him, but the Senator?”

Obi-Wan covered his face with his hand. Why had Anakin told him that?

“Are you happy outside the Order, Obi-Wan?”

The fact that he had to think about it was a problem, but he was still something of a wreck after his big talk with Anakin a little over a week ago. “I’m . . . not sure how I feel. I have a lot I need to work through, and that will take time.”

Mace clasped his shoulder. “I hope you don’t regret your decision,” he said before he continued walking down the corridor.

“I don’t,” Obi-Wan called out to him. “If I had to do it all over again, I would make the same decision.” He swallowed hard and stood up to his full height. Obi-Wan knew he didn’t have to say, but he wanted Mace to understand that it went further than just attachment, that if they ever tried to hurt Anakin, he wouldn’t back down. “Because I love him.”

Mace faltered for a second, but then he kept on walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While Mace still doesn’t particularly like Anakin, he at least has some understanding of how badly the Council had failed him, mostly thanks to Palpatine’s holocron.


	25. Chapter 25

Ahsoka quickly snuck back into the sitting room before Obi-Wan could see her. Anakin didn’t have to utter a word for her to know that their talk had went well, and hearing from Master Windu himself that he was willing to change the Code and would try to stop the hunt lifted a weight off her chest. Ahsoka had initially been anticipating some hostility from him, but after he called Anakin by his given name, she’d thought that maybe her family would be left alone. Now it seemed like that possibility could become a reality.

She was almost just as surprised by how much Obi-Wan had changed in the month since she’d left for Onderon. While she already knew that he and Anakin loved each other, Obi-Wan never struck her as the type to be vocal about it, especially to someone like Master Windu.

“Well?” Anakin asked. “What did he say?”

“Master Windu doesn’t think you’re a threat, so he’s definitely on our side. And Obi-Wan told him that he loves you.”

Anakin stumbled back in shock before he looked at Padmé, who simply shrugged.

Ahsoka hoped he was only surprised because Obi-Wan said that to Master Windu and not because it was the first time he actually heard that Obi-Wan loved him. “We’ll just have to wait and see if he can change their minds. I’m not sure how much influence he actually has at this point, but the more people on our side, the better.”

“I’m tired of waiting, though,” Anakin said, crossing his arms. “I don’t want to remain in hiding until Yoda dies.”

“Then maybe we should take a trip to Coruscant,” Obi-Wan suggested as he walked in.

Anakin narrowed his eyes. “And if they try to imprison me?”

“I wasn’t lying when I said that I would stand with you to fight the Council.”

Ahsoka watched as the tension immediately drained from Anakin, leaving him with a very faint smile. She’d never seen him calm down that easily. Anakin had only just started seeing a counselor, so him and Obi-Wan must have done some much needed talking. In the past two years, Ahsoka had noticed that a lot of their arguments could have been avoided if they had only _talked_ to each other.

“If you go, I’m coming with you,” Padmé said defiantly.

Anakin frowned. “Not a chance. You need to stay here and relax.”

“How could I relax when I wouldn’t even be sure that you’d return?”

Obi-Wan walked up to Padmé and rested a hand on her shoulder. He seemed to be a lot more tactile than before he left the Order. “I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“ _We_ wouldn’t let that happen,” Ahsoka corrected him. “We wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble to get Anakin out only to let the Council imprison him again.”

“I’d certainly hope so.”

All three of them turned to look at the doorway. Shmi was standing there, smiling at them with her hands on her hips.

Apparently, Anakin had been too distracted to sense her presence because he definitely would have mentioned that she was in the building. He ran up to Shmi and gave her a big hug, spinning her around as she laughed. “Mom, what are you doing here?” he asked after he set her back down.

“To see all of you, of course. Padmé arranged it.”

“After I sent her the message about the Newlywed Feast, I transferred her frequency to my own comlink. I thought it would be good to have, in case I ever needed to contact her,” Padmé explained. “I reached out to Shmi the day after I made that mistake with the counselor to ask if she’d like to visit. I wanted to make it up to you.” She gave him an apologetic smile as she slowly got to her feet. “Teckla got her after she sent over the coordinates.”

Ahsoka had no idea what she was referring to, but it was obvious that he had already forgiven Padmé from the way he’d been interacting with her.

“Owen was much better by that point, so I agreed, but there were a couple of things I had to take care of first.” Shmi pulled Anakin into a sideways hug. “I can stay for a few days. Owen and Beru said I deserve a break.”

“You really do,” Anakin said with a huge smile on his face.

Ahsoka was happy for them. She really liked Shmi, and it would be nice to spend some time with her when they weren’t all anxious from having just left the Order.

Anakin went over to Padmé and gave her a hug, and when he whispered something to her, Ahsoka did her best to tune him out. She really wished her hearing wasn’t so sensitive. Then he reached out to Obi-Wan, who looked confused but took his hand anyway, and Anakin held onto Padmé with his other hand. Ahsoka realized what was happening. He hadn’t told his mother about Padmé being pregnant. Considering he could only send messages to her, she understood why he hadn’t said anything yet. That sort of thing was probably better to announce in person, or at least through a live connection.

“We’re going to be parents, Mom. Padmé’s having twins.”

Shmi’s eyes widened, and she rushed up to the trio to give each of them a kiss on the cheek before she gave Padmé a hug. “Now I understand why Ani had asked about the drink I used to make for him when his stomach hurt. I know how bad nausea can get during pregnancy.” Shmi turned to Anakin and said, “I brought the ingredients with me just in case you couldn’t find them on Naboo.”

“Thank you.”

Shmi went over to Ahsoka and gave her a hug as well. “How have you been?” she asked, holding Ahsoka’s hands in her own.

“Good. I’m actually only visiting. I’ve been staying with a friend on Onderon.” She rolled her eyes when Anakin chuckled and said “friend” while using air quotes.

“Yes, Ani said you went off on your own.” Shmi squeezed her hands lightly. “Do you feel it was the right decision for you?”

“I do.”

Shmi smiled, and Ahsoka wondered if this was what it felt like to have a mother. She didn’t remember her birth family, and until recently, she hadn’t really thought about them. Ahsoka had been looking into her culture, and she found out that adoption was quite prevalent on Shili. It was likely that she’d been an orphan for only a short time, and that was why she didn’t have a new family when Master Plo arrived. Ahsoka sometimes imagined what it would have been like to grow up with parents and siblings on her homeworld, but then she never would have met all the people she held dear or learned how to use the Force. Despite everything that had happened, she wouldn’t change any of it.

“Oh, and that was a Jedi I saw on my way in, right?”

Obi-Wan nodded. “That was Mace Windu, a member of the Council and one of the leaders of the Order.”

Shmi frowned sharply. “I wish I’d done more than glare at him. Maybe he hasn’t left yet.” She headed toward the doorway. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.”

Anakin quickly blocked her path. “There’s no need for that, Mom. He’s on our side. He even apologized to me.”

Well, that was unexpected. What did Master Windu apologize for? Wanting to lock Anakin up indefinitely? Having him be hunted down like he was a criminal? Or maybe it was for something Ahsoka was unaware of. She knew Anakin and the Council never got along, which made Obi-Wan’s appointment to the Council a little awkward, but she had sensed there was more to it than a difference in opinion.

She’d only known Anakin for two years, and he very rarely spoke of his life from before the war. When he was a Padawan, he had been adored by her fellow younglings, but she’d never had the chance to meet him and was almost jealous of those who did. The way they would talk about him, it was like his presence in the Force was an addictive drug. They said that he felt like no other Jedi they’d ever met, and he was so kind to them, but his kindness was different from Yoda’s or the crèche master’s. It was only after getting to know him that Ahsoka understood what they meant.

“We shouldn’t go to Coruscant without a plan,” Padmé said, “but we should also wait a little while to see what Mace can accomplish first. Ahsoka, how often do you speak with Barriss?”

She shrugged. “Maybe twice a week. I’ll contact her today to let her know what happened with Master Windu.” Ahsoka wanted to smack herself. She had been so careful about using the word “master” when they were on Tatooine, but Shmi didn’t react, so she tried to pretend she hadn’t let it slip and kept going. “It might get more people on the side of change if they know even Mace Windu is open to updating the Code.”

Frowning, Obi-Wan took a step toward her and crossed his arms. “And may I ask how you know that?”

“Uhhh . . . ”

Anakin put himself between them. “I asked her to follow you. She’s a lot better at stealth than I am.”

“That is true, but you could have asked me what we discussed when I returned. I wasn’t going to keep any of it to myself.”

Ahsoka winced slightly. She didn’t want them to start fighting. “I’m sorry.”

Obi-Wan just sighed.

“I’m being a terrible host,” Padmé said suddenly. She was probably nervous about a fight breaking out as well. “Shmi, do you want anything to eat or drink?”

“No, thank you. I’m fine,” she said, but it seemed as though she was only being polite.

Anakin glanced at Shmi before he said, “I could eat.”

“We did skip lunch since we were waiting for him to show up,” Ahsoka pointed out just as she heard a soft growl. Slapping her hands over her stomach as if that would quiet it, she laughed and began walking in the direction of the kitchen. “I guess I could eat, too.”

\------

His mother insisted on helping the handmaidens prepare lunch, so he decided to help, too. They all seemed very curious after she introduced herself as his mother, and it was a bit jarring to see them be so talkative. Anakin just hoped that they didn’t ask any questions about his childhood since he was pretty sure none of them knew about his past as a slave.

“So you’re like Padmé’s bodyguards?”

“We’re a bit more than that, but we do protect her,” Dormé said as she cut up what Anakin thought was a vegetable. “While not mandatory, it’s expected that we stay with her until she dismisses us. That’s the way it is for all former queens of Naboo and their handmaidens.”

His mother nodded. “You’re all here willingly then?”

Anakin understood why she wanted to know, but he was afraid they would take offense to the question. “Yes, Mom. She wouldn’t force anyone to stay.”

Moteé went on to explain everything the Naboo Royal Handmaidens did, some of which even Anakin hadn’t known. When she began talking about the Invasion of Naboo, the others chimed in, and that took up most of the time spent putting lunch together. Anakin was more than relieved that they hadn’t asked too much about his mother’s life. He couldn’t tell if they were simply being polite since they knew Tatooine wasn’t a rich planet or if they actually did know that she used to be a slave.

“Padmé was devastated when Sabé left,” Dormé said as they started bringing the dishes out to the table. “They had been very . . . close.”

Anakin felt like he was missing something. Padmé had never really talked about her handmaidens, but he figured it was due to the limited time they had together after they got married. They usually stuck to light topics to distract themselves from the war, or they simply hadn’t talked at all. When Anakin thought about it, there was actually a lot he didn’t know about her past. He would have to fix that.

Lunch was spent catching his mother up on everything. He usually kept his messages to her short, so there was enough that she didn’t know about. Anakin still couldn’t believe she was really there. Every time she looked at him from across the table, he couldn’t help but smile at her.

After they finished eating, he took her outside because he knew she would appreciate the scenery. His mother had never been on such a green planet before. Naboo’s single sun wasn’t oppressively bright, and the gentle breeze was nothing like the whipping, hot winds of Tatooine. Anakin lied down on the grass with a smile and closed his eyes. He was still rather terrible at meditating, but out on the hill by the lake with his mother, it wasn’t as difficult to get into the right mindset for it.

Eventually, his mother had spent enough time taking in the view and sat beside him. “Are you going to raise the children here?”

Anakin sat up and shrugged. “Padmé’s mentioned it, but I don’t think we’ll stay for very long. They’ll need other children to play with, and it’s too isolated out here.”

“I didn’t think I would be a grandmother for at least another few years,” she said with a lopsided grin.

He could feel himself blush a little. “Yeah, it wasn’t exactly planned. I’m still nervous about being a father, but there’s enough time to do research. It helps that there’s three of us, so even with two babies on the way, we should be able to handle it.”

“And the three of you are . . . ”

Anakin thought he knew what she was asking. “While we’re still in the learning stage of how this all works, I think we’ll be alright by the time the babies are born.”

“Are you and Obi-Wan still having problems? I know you said you weren’t fighting as much, but that doesn’t mean everything has been resolved.”

Even though Anakin knew she liked him, she would probably always be a little worried about Obi-Wan having power over him. He doubted that anything he’d say would convince her that it wasn’t an issue. Or maybe she just thought that Obi-Wan might try to exert power over him unintentionally? At least she was treating both him and Padmé the same.

“We had an important discussion a little while ago, so we’re a lot better now.”

“He’s not asking you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with, right?”

Judging by the fact that she’d lowered her voice to a near whisper, Anakin figured she was referring to sex. She probably figured they’d slept together by that point. “I feel _uncomfortable_ talking about this with you,” he said while he looked down at his lap.

“Is he a considerate lover?”

“He is.”

“Then I won’t bring the topic up again.”

Anakin hoped that really was the last time she’d ask him about it. In that moment, Anakin had a lot of sympathy for Ahsoka, and he made a silent promise to never make jokes about his sex life to her again.

To distract himself from the embarrassment, he said, “I started seeing a counselor. She told me that her grandfather used to be a slave, and she’s actually been to Tatooine because that’s where he’s from. She’s even been donating money to a group that helps resettle former slaves.” The counselor had said that she normally didn’t reveal that much information about herself, but considering his own past, she felt it would help him to open up. She didn’t claim to know what slavery was like, and he would have been offended if she had. Rather, she had a better understanding than her colleagues of just how much it affected someone for the rest of their life. She saw that in her grandfather, who hadn’t escaped until he was sixteen. What really made Anakin feel more at ease was the fact that she probably wouldn’t be surprised by the horrors he experienced or witnessed. He didn’t need his counselor to have the same reaction to his childhood as Obi-Wan had. “And from what little I told her about the Order, she said the way they treat children is appalling. It turns out that certain things I thought are normal actually aren’t at all. I really think she can help me, Mom.”

She smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I’m glad you’re getting help. I’ve been worrying about you, Ani. Even before I learned what the Jedi Order was truly like, knowing you were fighting in that war would sometimes keep me up at night.”

Anakin was beyond relieved that the war was over. It felt like he’d gotten more sleep in the past few weeks than he had in the last two years, and his mind was quieter than it used to be. He didn’t have to constantly think about battle strategies or fear for the safety of his men and the civilians who always got caught up in the fighting or hope it wouldn’t be the last time he’d see Obi-Wan or Ahsoka alive or worry that the Council would decide that his latest mistake was just too much so even more people would _die_ because he wasn’t there to save them.

“Ani? Are you alright? You’re very tense.”

Forcing himself to relax, Anakin tilted his head up to the cloudless sky and closed his eyes. “I’m okay,” he said quietly.

His mother rubbed soothing circles into his back like she did when he was a child. She obviously knew that he wasn’t okay at all, but thankfully, she was letting him believe that he was. “I meant to ask earlier. Do Padmé’s parents know about the twins?”

Anakin cringed before he looked at her with a somewhat nervous smile. “You know how I said that the Newlywed Feast went fine? I lied. They found out about Obi-Wan and didn’t take it well. Then she just blurted out that she was pregnant—she didn’t know she was carrying twins yet—and that hadn’t made the situation any better. They feel she’s brought shame to their family.”

His mother sighed, her shoulders drooping a little. “Oh, that poor girl.”

“Padmé’s still not talking to them, but I hope they apologize to her before the twins are born. She only wants them in our children’s lives if they’re accepting of us all being together.”

“I’m sure they’ll come to understand that their child’s happiness is what matters most.”

Anakin didn’t know them well enough to agree. Padmé hadn’t talked about it since it happened, and he didn’t want to bring it up and risk upsetting her. Still, his mother’s optimism was contagious. “Yeah, they will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course Padmé was going to go above and beyond to apologize to Anakin.


	26. Chapter 26

“That was very thoughtful of you to bring Shmi here,” Obi-Wan said as he sat next to Padmé on the couch.

“Well, Tatooine isn’t _that_ far away.”

Ahsoka was helping Dormé and the others clean up, but Padmé had a sneaking suspicion that she just wanted to let her have some alone time with Obi-Wan. Padmé had told her that Obi-Wan reacted much better than the last time, but Ahsoka was convinced that he was in full panic mode on the inside. He did have very strong mental shields, and great acting skills, so it was completely possible that she was right. At the very least, Anakin would notice if Obi-Wan was being closed-off, but he didn’t seem to be worried.

Padmé moved closer to him. “Are you really okay with this?” At his look of confusion, she put her hand on her stomach and said, “I mean with the twins.”

He didn’t answer immediately, but he was most likely attempting to find a way to put his emotions into words since he did tend to struggle with that. “I’m trying not to feel overwhelmed by it.” Then he gave her a smile that she recognized as being a means for deflection. “Don’t worry, though. I’m not going to disappear in the middle of the night.”

“I’d feel a lot better about that if you were actually with us at night.” Padmé was only teasing, but his smile vanished as he looked straight ahead, his posture becoming somewhat hunched. She didn’t want him to think that he had to sleep in her bed or that she was upset with him for wanting space.

“I’m sorry, Padmé. I just . . . I’m still not sure how I fit.”

It was her turn to be confused. Of course he fit. He knew the bed was big enough for the three of them. But then she felt ridiculous when she realized what he meant. “Obi-Wan,” she said gently as she turned his head toward her, “we love you, and you’re just as important to us as we are to each other.”

Padmé couldn’t identify the look in his eyes, but it seemed like she’d gotten through to him a little. However, right when he opened his mouth to respond, a strong wave of nausea had her running for the nearest garbage bin, which happened to be in the attached study. Padmé was grateful she’d had a light meal, but her stomach never seemed to care how much it had or didn’t have. Once she began to calm down, Obi-Wan knelt beside her.

“Do you need anything?”

Padmé shook her head and instantly regretted it, as the pounding almost made her want to retch again. She felt like crying. _This is only going to get worse as time goes on._ After Padmé was relatively sure she wasn’t going to get sick again, she trudged back into the sitting room.

“Would you like to lie down?”

Instead of answering him, she simply grabbed the nearest pillow, shoved him onto the couch, and put the pillow and her head in his lap. Obi-Wan was tense beneath her since he’d probably meant if she would like to lie down in her bed, but didn’t he know that was too far away? Eventually, he got over his surprise and rested a hand on her upper arm. As he rubbed his thumb across her skin, a sense of tranquility washed over her. He must have been projecting rather strongly for her to be able to feel it, but perhaps that was his intention.

“I think I love you,” Obi-Wan said with a small amount of wonder.

Padmé carefully turned her head and smiled at him. That was probably the most she would get out of him for some time. Honestly, she hadn’t even expected that much so soon, but they were around each other a lot more in the current timeline than in her old one. When Obi-Wan avoided her gaze, she said, “I want you to know that it doesn’t bother me that you don’t make such declarations very often.”

Obi-Wan didn’t respond.

She decided to let him figure himself out while she took a nap, but then Ahsoka walked in.

“Aww, you guys look cute.”

“We’re not ‘cute.’” Padmé could hear the frown in his voice. “She suddenly became sick and is resting.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Padmé kept her eyes closed as she said, “It’s fine. Obi-Wan’s just being grumpy.”

“I am not.”

She couldn’t help but giggle at how offended he was.

“I was about to contact Barriss, and I was going to ask if you wanted to talk to her, but you’re obviously busy.”

Padmé opened her eyes at Ahsoka’s solemn tone only to see that she was giving Obi-Wan a faint smirk. _Oh, she was definitely Anakin’s student._

“Do you know which side Luminara is on?” he asked.

Her smirk disappeared. “Not ours.”

Obi-Wan put a small amount of pressure on Padmé’s arm. “After being wrong about Mace, I can no longer guess as to who will take which side.”

“I think Master Plo would like the Order to change.”

“I agree,” Obi-Wan said without hesitation.

Padmé remembered that Plo was the Jedi who found Ahsoka on Shili. Anakin had heard that Plo had requested to take her as his Padawan, but the Council felt that he was too attached to her. The Council really lacked foresight if they couldn’t see Anakin getting “too attached” to Ahsoka.

“I’ll let you know if Barriss has any news,” Ahsoka said before she walked out.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Obi-Wan’s hand simply resting on her arm and her own hand covering his knee. She hadn’t spent too much time alone with him lately because she feared a repeat of the night Anakin had his breakdown. Padmé didn’t want to come right out and ask Anakin if he was okay with her spending time with Obi-Wan because they didn’t need his permission, but she didn’t know how else to go about it. She had to do more reading on how not to let one’s partners feel left out.

“You really won’t stay here when we go to Coruscant, will you?” he asked quietly.

“No. I’ll catch up with Bail while you go to the Temple, if he can spare a moment during his campaign. There’s still a little over two weeks before the election.” Padmé had been closely following the news around the election for Supreme Chancellor and was very impressed with Bail’s proposals for reform. He even promised that half of his advisory team would be from former Separatist worlds. If the Republic was to ever get out of the ditch of corruption they had put themselves in, he was their best bet. “What do you think will happen when you meet with the Council?”

“I don’t know, but I’ll have some idea once we get within a certain distance from the Temple.”

Padmé turned so that she was lying on her back. “You’ll be able to sense what the general mood is?”

He shrugged. “If there is one.”

“Wouldn’t it be smarter to call the Council to Naboo? Then you wouldn’t be on their turf.”

“It would look better if we went to them.”

Although she didn’t doubt that Obi-Wan would fight to keep Anakin free, how could they be a match for the entire Council? Or would the members who wanted change go against the previous decision to have Anakin locked up? They would be taking such a huge risk in going to Coruscant, but Padmé understood that it was necessary. They couldn’t hide forever.

\------

Anakin and his mother walked into the sitting room, but he stopped as soon as he saw Padmé and Obi-Wan together on the couch. It was a familiar arrangement since Anakin had fallen asleep with his head in Obi-Wan’s lap many times, but he never expected to see Padmé in his place. She didn’t seem to be sleeping, though, since her eyes opened when his mother went over to them. As she asked Padmé if she was alright, he tried to get a grasp on what he was actually feeling in that moment. But then Obi-Wan looked at him with a tired smile, and whatever ugly emotion that had been starting to take root vanished in an instant. Anakin smiled back as he walked to the couch.

“I’ll make a drink for you,” his mother said. “Its effects should last a full day. Well, a full day on Tatooine.”

“The difference is only a few hours. I looked it up once,” Padmé said.

When his mother hurried out of the room, Anakin reached out and stroked Padmé’s cheek. Her eyes closed at the touch. He couldn’t be too sure, but she looked a little thinner than she was back on Coruscant. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”

“Not really. I’m just getting less of a warning. Could you throw out the garbage in the study please? Even though I do still feel a little nauseous, I don’t think I’ll get sick again.”

After he kissed her forehead, he did as she asked and went into the kitchen to dispose of it. Then he watched his mother combine the ingredients she brought. The smell brought him back to their home in Mos Espa, which didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would. But their home had been a safe place, so it made sense. That was where he got to spend time with his mother and where he taught himself how to build things without the fear of getting yelled at. Watto never entered the Slave Quarter.

“Do you want to take a sip?”

Anakin made a face and backed away. “I’d only drink that stuff if I was rolling on the floor in pain.”

She laughed as she walked passed him.

Back in the sitting room, Padmé slowly sat up and took the proffered drink. His mother warned her about the taste before she brought the glass to her lips, but she still choked a little as she began drinking it.

“If you pinch your nose, it won’t be as strong,” Anakin suggested.

Padmé gave him a skeptical look, but she did it anyway and chugged the rest. “Can I wash it down with something?”

“That would negate the effect, I’m afraid,” his mother said as she rubbed Padmé’s back in sympathy.

“If it works, I can deal with the taste. Thank you, Shmi.”

His mother smiled. “Of course.”

Anakin thought that Padmé and Obi-Wan were sitting closer to each other than they used to, so he brushed against Obi-Wan’s mind to determine what he was feeling, which was a mixture of contentment and slight worry. Had something happened between them? As far as Anakin knew, they hadn’t been spending a lot of time together. He hoped that wasn’t because they feared what his reaction would be. Minor jealousy would probably be an issue for quite some time, but as long as they didn’t ignore him, he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. Anakin knew he would actually have to tell them that. _I’m not going to let us fall apart because we won’t talk to each other._

\------

Ahsoka picked an empty room and contacted Barriss with her old comlink. Since Ahsoka helped Anakin escape the Temple, Barriss could get in a lot of trouble if she got caught talking to her, so speaking through a holo was out of the question.

After Ahsoka finished telling her about Mace’s position, Barriss seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. _“That is indeed good news. I’ll try to talk to him when he returns.”_

“We’ll be going to the Temple after we give Master Windu some time to work the Council over.” She had no idea how long they were going to wait since they hadn’t discussed it yet, but the sooner the better. She just wanted to get it over with.

 _“I’m not sure what would happen when you show up,”_ Barriss admitted. _“I haven’t heard any kind words about Skywalker, even on our side.”_

Ahsoka knew that Anakin didn’t really have any friends within the Order, so it wasn’t like there was anyone he could count on to stand up for him. Those on their side didn’t seem to make any connection between Anakin and the need for change. After all, it wasn’t like any of them knew that he was catalyst. Everyone was saying Palpatine was the Order’s wake up call, which was true, but the Council wouldn’t have known the full extent of Palpatine’s involvement without that holocron. Padmé thought it was the holocron that made Master Windu change his mind about Anakin.

 _“I’ve been trying to gain an audience with Master Yoda, but he’s refusing to see me.”_ It was the most frustrated Barriss had sounded in all their conversations. She generally tried to stay calm, even though the position she was in had to be extremely stressful. Ahsoka didn’t envy her in the slightest. _“Those who have seen him in the halls say he looks very tired.”_

“Let Master Windu focus on Yoda. Instead, try to talk to the other Council members. Don’t give up, Barriss. I know you and the others will get through to them at some point.”

Maybe, in going to the Temple, they could give the final push that was needed to convince Yoda that the status quo was only hurting the Order. Ahsoka hoped their appearance wouldn’t just make it harder for those who had been trying to fight for change for the past month, but either way, it needed to be done. Knowing that Padmé was staying on Naboo for such an extended period of time, the Council would assume that Anakin was with her, and they’d send someone to retrieve him. It was better to just go to the Temple and avoid possibly drawing the attention of the Nabooian government. Ahsoka could only imagine what chaos would unfold if the Jedi approached him while he was in Theed. Perhaps Yoda would see them coming to the Temple as an attempt to bring the situation to a peaceful conclusion. At least, Ahsoka hoped that was what Anakin wanted and that he wouldn’t just barge into the Council Chamber in a fit of rage.

\------   

Obi-Wan was glad he took Anakin’s suggestion to meditate in the sunroom. It was drizzling outside, and the sound of rain hitting transparisteel was rather soothing. After he gradually came out of his trance, he was surprised to see Anakin’s mother standing in front of him, looking up at the darkened sky. Apparently, the drizzle had turned into a downpour while he was meditating.

He was suddenly hit with the memory of the first time Anakin saw rain. They were still in that rough period where they didn’t quite know how to interact with each other, so when Obi-Wan found Anakin standing outside in the rain, his face turned up to the sky, he had no idea what to do. Anakin was supposed to be in class since he had so much to catch up on, but it somehow felt wrong to reprimand him. In the end, he simply ushered the boy inside and dried him off as best he could with his own robe. All Anakin said was how he couldn’t believe there was so much water, that it just kept coming down. The sheer wonder in Anakin’s voice at something as commonplace to Obi-Wan as rain made his heart clench slightly.

“Is this your first time?” Obi-Wan asked. When Shmi turned to look at him, he gestured to the sky.

“Oh, no, I’ve seen rain before, but not quite like this.” She walked over to the couch behind him and sat down. “I apologize if I interrupted you.”

Obi-Wan slowly got to his feet, cringing a bit at his stiff joints. At least Anakin wasn’t there to make fun of him, but Obi-Wan had seen him struggle to stand up on more than one occasion, so he had no room to talk. Sitting next to Shmi, he said, “I was in too deep to be distracted by another’s presence, so you were fine.”

“Do you do that a lot?”

“Meditate? I try to once a day.” She nodded and looked at him with such intensity that he had to stop himself from shrinking away. That was the same look Padmé would give him before saying something she knew he wouldn’t like. “You’re going to ask me about Anakin, aren’t you?”

“He confirmed my suspicion that you have been intimate with each other, and I just want you to know that if you _ever_ try to force him to do anything he’s not comfortable with, I will drag you to Tatooine and sic a pack of womp rats on you.”

Obi-Wan had no idea what womp rats were, but he figured they must be carnivorous. He’d hoped they were beyond threats by that point. After all, Anakin said she liked him, and she certainly hadn’t been acting as though she thought he would hurt her son. But Obi-Wan had to remind himself that she didn’t actually know him very well, so it made sense that she felt the need to tell him such a thing. “I would never force him to do anything, sexual or otherwise. Even when he was my student, I never forced him to clean or do his class assignments. I asked him to until he couldn’t stand my ‘nagging.’ Actually, for all his complaining, he always finished his assignments well before he went to bed.” Anakin was incredibly smart, so he didn’t struggle that much, even with the extra workload his instructors had given him in an effort to catch him up to his peers. He probably only complained to get on Obi-Wan’s nerves, as that had become a hobby of his.

She smiled a bit and leaned back into the couch. “I don’t really think you would, but I feel better putting it out there. You make him happy, and that’s what matters.” Looking up at the rain that was pounding the transparisteel, she said, “I want all of you to be happy.”

Obi-Wan didn’t know what to say to that. Even after being with Anakin and Padmé, he wasn’t used to people caring about his general state of being. Instead, he asked her something that had been on his mind since they left Tatooine. “If Anakin asked you to live on Naboo, would you? I’m sure Padmé could set something up.”

“I couldn’t leave Owen and Beru.”

“But they’re both adults who seemed to be doing fine. Would they judge you for wanting to be close to your son, to your grandchildren?”

Shmi’s gaze fell to her lap. “I . . . I wouldn’t know how to live on a planet like this.”

“You must be very adaptable, though. To have lived such a life, I can imagine you _had_ to be, not that I claim to understand what you’ve been through.”

She sighed and closed her eyes. “I’d get used to a new life, and of course I’d want to spend time with Anakin and my grandchildren. Nothing would make me happier. But I’m sure it wouldn’t be easy to bring me over here, and I don’t want to impose. So, yes, I would, but only if he asked me to.”

Based on what little time he’d spent with her, he’d known she would say that.

Talking to Shmi made him decide that it was time to stop being afraid. There was nothing wrong with wanting happiness. Obi-Wan had to learn to let go of the Order’s teachings that said the self was unimportant. So that night, he took one step toward the life he ultimately wanted.

“Would it be alright if I stayed with the two of you?”

In reply, Padmé held his face between her hands and gave him a kiss. Then Anakin hugged him tightly as joy surged across their bond. He assumed Anakin had such a dramatic reaction because he typically wasn’t the one to reach out.

“Just to sleep,” Obi-Wan clarified.

“That’s fine,” Anakin said, beaming at him.

Other than that one time in the shower, they hadn’t done anything sexual with each other since arriving on Naboo. He simply hadn’t been in the mood, which wasn’t unusual for him. Obi-Wan could go months without needing a physical release. When he and Padmé had almost slept together, that was more about closeness than release. Thinking about it, he still wanted that with her, but she was going to have to make the first move, and Obi-Wan didn’t know how to tell her that without feeling incredibly awkward.

“Do you want to be in the middle?” Anakin asked after Obi-Wan returned in his sleep clothes. “Padmé can’t in case she has to use the toilet.”

She sighed as she pulled the covers back. “The babies together are smaller than my fist, but it feels like they’re pressing right on my bladder.”

Obi-Wan didn’t think he was quite ready for that much attention, so he politely declined. Besides, he knew how much Anakin loved being in the middle.

“You’re too warm,” Padmé said after they got settled. “Go latch onto Obi-Wan.”

Seconds later, he felt the bed shake slightly, and Anakin cuddled up behind him. Having Anakin’s cybernetic arm wrapped around him was always a bit odd, but he made sure to never show any discomfort since he didn’t want Anakin to think that his arm bothered him.

“Just so you know, I really am okay with both of you spending time together,” Anakin whispered. “All I ask is that you include me if I’m present.”

“Of course.” That was what he’d tried to do when Anakin saw Padmé with her head in his lap. Obi-Wan had felt a hint of something dark across their bond, but when he smiled at Anakin, it had disappeared.

Obi-Wan could tell that Padmé was already dead to the world, and Anakin nuzzled the back of his neck before he started to drift off to sleep himself. Obi-Wan placed his hand over Anakin’s and closed his eyes, thinking this was where he belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan’s slowly getting a bit more comfortable with being a part of the trio. It’ll be a little while before they go to Coruscant, but as I have it planned out now, there won’t be too much after that. The end is almost in sight.


	27. Chapter 27

Padmé watched as the three of them sparred on the Southern Lawn, Shmi sitting beside her. It was Shmi’s first time seeing her son’s fighting skills, and Padmé found herself watching Shmi’s comical reactions almost as much as the three ex-Jedi out on the lawn. It was the first time they were alone together, and while Padmé wasn’t suffering from Obi-Wan’s very understandable apprehension when he was in such a position, there was a topic she wanted to bring up that was making it difficult not to fidget.

“Are you nervous about the births?” Shmi asked, not taking her eyes off of the trio.

“I am, but I know the likelihood of there being any complications is small.” She had done some quick research on the subject and found that Theed was one of the best places in the galaxy when it came to multiple births. But before that subject could be expanded upon, Padmé took a deep breath and said, “I am so sorry about not helping you all those years ago. I should have found a way to free you.”

Shmi looked at her, eyebrows raised. “Oh, there’s no need to apologize. You were the queen of an entire planet, so you had more important things to worry about.”

Padmé shook her head. She somehow knew Shmi would say that. Anakin had said almost the exact same thing when Padmé apologized to him about it. “That’s no excuse.”

Patting her shoulder, Shmi smiled and said gently, “It’s in the past now.”

Even though she couldn’t tell if Shmi was only being polite or if she truly never held a grudge against her, Padmé let it go and went back to watching the sparring match. Most likely, the thought probably hadn’t even entered Shmi’s mind. It certainly had never occurred to Anakin that Padmé should have done something. It seemed that slaves on Tatooine never expected help from outsiders.

Padmé jumped slightly after a hit connected with a little too much force, sending Obi-Wan to the ground.

“Anakin!” Shmi chastised.

Obi-Wan quickly got to his feet. “I’m alright!”

“I had no idea Anakin could fight like that,” Shmi said after they continued.

“Wait until you see him with a lightsaber.”

Then Obi-Wan’s and Ahsoka’s lightsabers flew into their outstretched hands while Anakin stood to the side and watched. Both he and Obi-Wan called out corrections every so often, but Ahsoka didn’t seem to mind. At the very least, Padmé thought she’d be a little miffed about Obi-Wan correcting her since he hadn’t been her teacher. She still wasn’t entirely sure how close the two of them were.

“They move so quickly. Do those lightsabers have safety settings?”

“No. They could get seriously hurt if they’re not careful.”

Padmé understood Shmi’s look of horror. It took her a long time to get over the fact that they could so easily maim each other by accident.

They watched the duel in silence, Shmi cringing every time a blade got a little too close to someone’s limb. Unsure of when she’d get another chance to speak with Shmi alone, Padmé eventually turned to face her. “I have a question for you, and I’d appreciate your honest answer.” After Shmi nodded, she asked, “How do you feel about Obi-Wan and Anakin being together?”

Anakin didn’t think it was an issue anymore, but Padmé had noticed a few wary looks directed at Obi-Wan. She didn’t want her mother-in-law to suddenly decide that she no longer approved of Anakin being with Obi-Wan, especially since that would inevitably put a strain on all three of them. It was the same with her parents. Avoiding them while still having a relationship with Sola would quickly become tiring, and what affected one part of their triad would affect the rest.

Shmi looked to the ground as she folded her hands in her lap. “I do believe that they love each other, and I know Obi-Wan makes him happy, but . . . I’m still afraid that Anakin might be submissive to him without even realizing it because of their past. You don’t get over looking at someone as an authority figure for ten years that quickly.”

She wasn’t surprised Shmi felt that way. Padmé herself had worried about that when she’d realized that Anakin liked his old master as more than just a friend. Before she asked Anakin about it, she invited the two of them to dinner when they had a rare day off. Padmé wanted to see how they interacted in an informal setting. Watching them together, she knew that Obi-Wan respected him and probably saw him as more than a friend as well, if those tiny smiles he kept giving Anakin when he wasn’t looking were anything to go by. Her fear about them having an imbalanced relationship had disappeared by the end of the night.

“I think it’s different in this case because of the war,” Padmé said as she watched Ahsoka do some rather impressive acrobatics. “They were both generals for a year and a half before Anakin made his move, so he was already used to being treated as Obi-Wan’s equal.”

“Wait, Anakin made the first move?”

Padmé wasn’t sure how much he had told his mother, but she could see him being a little shy when it came to talking about his relationships in any kind of detail. “Yes, he was the pursuer, and Obi-Wan was the one trying not to panic every time he was kissed. They, um, had a bumpy start.”

That was a bit of an understatement. After Padmé had to talk some sense into Obi-Wan the first time, he had gone to her twice about how he had no idea what he was doing and that he was so afraid of getting caught by the Council. She couldn’t even get mad at him for seeking her out instead of Anakin. The sight of him pacing back and forth while talking so quickly that she thought he’d pass out from not getting enough air blew her mind.

“That . . . makes sense. Obi-Wan told me he isn’t very good with emotions, and he’d originally wished that Anakin hadn’t reciprocated his feelings. For some reason, it just didn’t occur to me that Anakin had started it.”

“He was the same way with me,” Padmé said with a shrug. “I hadn’t wanted a secret relationship, but when I thought we were going to die, I realized that I loved him too much to let him go. You don’t have to worry, Shmi. In all the time I’ve seen them together, I never thought Obi-Wan was taking advantage of him, and I definitely never thought Anakin was submissive to Obi-Wan.”

Shmi’s posture relaxed slightly on an exhale. “I’m glad you married him,” she said with a smile.

Padmé smiled back. “I am, too.”

Then Ahsoka and Obi-Wan shut their lightsabers off and bowed to each other before Ahsoka threw one of her sabers to Anakin. He took a moment to familiarize himself with it, and when he engaged Obi-Wan, Padmé had to close her eyes.

Everything was fine.

Anakin wasn’t trying to kill him.

Padmé’s breathing was uneven, and her heart was beating rapidly. She grabbed a handful of grass to anchor herself as she did the prep exercises for meditation that Obi-Wan taught her.

“What’s wrong?” Shmi asked.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ground in front of her. “Nothing.” Even if Shmi knew about Padmé traveling back in time, she couldn’t tell her what Anakin had done in the future.

“You look pale. Maybe you should lie down.”

Ahsoka came running over, probably having felt her distress in the Force.

“Really, I’m fine.” Padmé usually didn’t mind being the center of attention, but when Anakin and Obi-Wan also came over, she was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Then Anakin knelt beside her, and she flinched when he touched her arm. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He looked down at the lightsaber in his hand. “You said we were fighting before I . . . ”

Padmé got up as quickly as she could and walked back inside. She hated that it still affected her so much. She could watch them spar without reacting, so why did having lightsabers make such a huge difference? Would Mustafar haunt her for the rest of her life? There was no way she could explain to their children why she sometimes went into a panic. Padmé would make sure they never knew what their father had done in another life, especially since he was making great strides to distance himself from all of that. In truth, Padmé no longer thought he was capable of such horrible actions.

She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, so it startled her to see that she’d gone all the way up to her bedroom. Leaving the door open, Padmé sat on her bed and started crying, unsure if hormones were to blame for the sudden tears.

Some minutes later, there was a knock on the door frame. “May I come in?” Anakin asked.

She nodded and hastily wiped her cheeks. “I swear I’m not afraid of you. It’s just a reaction I can’t seem to help having when those memories get triggered.”

Anakin sat next to her and stared at the floor, most likely trying to figure out how to best handle the situation. “Are you happy? In general, I mean.”

“I am.”

“Even though you’re not in politics anymore?”

Padmé didn’t know what to say to that. It bothered her, not being able to help rebuild the Republic, but even if she had been allowed to run for reelection, and her pregnancy wasn’t so exhausting, she didn’t think she had it in her. Padmé had felt so tired in the future, and she’d wanted to believe that the Republic hadn’t become a parody of itself. In the end, she had somehow convinced herself that it could be saved if Palpatine simply gave the Senate the control it once had. Looking back, Padmé knew she’d been a fool.

“It’s like with Obi-Wan,” Anakin said after she’d been silent for too long. “You both have to find a new purpose in life.”

She smiled weakly. “You seem to be adapting to the change better than us.”

He shrugged. “That’s only because this is what I’ve wanted for a long time, starting a family with the two people I love most in the galaxy.”

Padmé leaned into him and kissed his cheek. “I’m sure there are other things you want.”

“Well, of course, but this comes first.” Then he looked up and tilted his head. “You’re very good at that.”

“At what?”

“Turning a conversation away from yourself.”

Padmé hadn’t done it intentionally that time, but she doubted Anakin would believe her.

“Have you heard from your parents at all?”

She resisted the urge to sigh and shook her head. It had been three weeks since the Newlywed Feast, and she thought they would have reached out by that point. It was like they’d disowned her. “I spoke with Sola a few days ago, and she said she had a fight with them over me. Ani, I’m tearing my family apart.” Hiding her face in her hands, Padmé started crying again.

Anakin put his arm around her shoulders. “It’s not your fault they’re so narrow-minded. Sola’s not mad at you, right?”

“No, she’s not,” Padmé said, sniffling. “I promised her we would visit soon.”

“We should go after my mom returns to Tatooine.” He handed her the box of facial tissues from her nightstand without moving from her side. “Spending time with your sister will be good for you, I think.”

After the tears finally stopped, she felt wrung out. With how difficult it was to keep her eyes open, she decided it was better to just take a nap and hope that she’d be back to her usual self after she woke up. “I’m going to lie down,” she said as she pulled away from him.

“Would you like me to stay with you?”

“I’d rather be alone.”

Rather than seeing hurt flash in his eyes, he simply nodded. Anakin used to take her or Obi-Wan’s need for space as a sign that they disliked his company, and she had gotten into a few arguments with him over it. That wasn’t a change she expected to see so soon.

“Do you need anything?” he asked as he stood.

“I’m okay. Thank you.”

Anakin took her face in his hands and wiped the tear streaks away with his thumbs as he smiled down at her. Before he left, he kissed her forehead and whispered, “Everything will be alright.”

Padmé was never one to just hope something would go the way she wanted it to. She worked hard to make it happen. Finally, she decided it was time to stop neglecting herself. There were issues from her future she’d been refusing to address, and she was only adding onto that. What justification did she have? Even Obi-Wan was slowly making progress. It was time to look through the database for her own counselor.

\------

Ahsoka hoped Padmé was alright. She wanted to believe that it was just hormones, but Anakin’s comment made her think Padmé had a flashback of sorts. She couldn’t think of any other explanation for why Padmé flinched at his touch. At least Anakin hadn’t gotten offended by her reaction. He went after her at Shmi’s urging, and Obi-Wan followed him.

“Don’t worry,” Shmi said. “Pregnancy can make you behave strangely.”

Ahsoka played dumb. Even if Shmi did know about the time travel incident, Ahsoka doubted Anakin told her everything that had happened in Padmé’s future.

Shmi patted the spot next to her. “You fight very well for your age,” she said once Ahsoka sat down. “You were able to hold your own against two grown men.”

She almost told her about the various times she had to fight for her life, with or without her lightsabers, before she remembered what Shmi thought of her being involved in the war. Back on Tatooine, Ahsoka hadn’t been sure how to feel about Shmi’s reaction, but after having the time to reflect on the decisions the Order made regarding the war, she couldn’t believe the Council had thought there was nothing wrong with sending children into battle. She had been responsible for people’s lives at the age of 14, and what she saw and experienced gave her nightmares. Ahsoka was aware that the Order’s forces had been spread thin, but that was no excuse to send young Padawans to the front lines or knight said Padawans before they were ready just because more generals were needed.

“You were right to be bothered by me having fought in the war,” Ahsoka said as she wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’m glad I was able to save people, but I wish I could’ve done it in a different way. Maybe Padawans could have helped with the clean-up or caring for the wounded. We shouldn’t have fought alongside the adults and been expected to able to handle it.” She didn’t know if the topic of child soldiers was being brought up at the Temple. She would have to ask Barriss about it the next time they spoke.

Shmi put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Ahsoka. I wish they hadn’t been so callous toward the children in their care. All we can hope is that they learn from their mistakes, and they seemed to have made many.” Then she stood and looked upward. “Why don’t we go inside? The clouds look angry.”

Ahsoka tilted her head up to the sky and saw that a storm was quickly approaching.

Once they were in the reading room, they found Obi-Wan on the couch. He sat up straight when he saw them, but his eyes betrayed how exhausted he was. Considering they didn’t really have anything to do at Varykino, there was no reason for Obi-Wan to feel that way, but Ahsoka understood mental exhaustion very well. After she’d become a little more settled in civilian life, finding a new identity for herself outside the Order hadn’t seemed like such a daunting task anymore. It didn’t bother her that she still wasn’t sure what she wanted to be. Like Steela said, she had time to figure it out. For Obi-Wan, though, it had to be a great struggle. How did someone create a new identity after living a certain way for over 30 years? When it came to feeling comfortable outside the Order, Anakin probably had it the easiest out of the three of them.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Shmi said as she sat next to Obi-Wan.

He nodded. “I feel hope from Anakin.” At Shmi’s look of confusion, he asked, “Did he ever tell you about our bond?”

“He did not,” she said warily.

“We have a Force bond that allows us to feel each other’s emotions, or send emotions to each other if needed. We can also project thoughts, but that’s a relatively new development.”

Shmi frowned. “Since you can read his mind, he doesn’t really have any privacy.”

Did their relationship still bother her? Ahsoka had gotten that vibe on Tatooine, but she hadn’t been sure if it was because of the age gap or the fact that Obi-Wan used to be Anakin’s teacher. It was probably both. If she didn’t know them so well, she would think their relationship was a little odd. Actually, a lot of people who knew them wouldn’t be surprised in the least. Rex obviously hadn’t been. She wondered if any of the other clones had similar bets.

“No, we don’t actually have telepathy,” he was quick to say. “We use that ability as a form of communication, so I can only hear the thoughts that he wants me to hear. Well, sometimes he projects a thought by accident, but that doesn’t happen very often. Plus, Anakin can put up mental shields that block me from sensing anything.”

“If his shields are strong enough, the most we can do is get his location,” Ahsoka said, sitting in the armchair. “I have a training bond with Anakin.”

“Ours started out as a training bond,” Obi-Wan said, “but it slowly became something more.”

Then Anakin walked in, but Ahsoka couldn’t gauge anything from his expression. “How’s Padmé doing?”

“She’ll be okay. She’s going to rest for a little while.”

After he sat next to Shmi, she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me about Force bonds?”

“Oh, um . . . ” Anakin shrugged. “It just never came up.”

Ahsoka understood. Certain aspects of the Force, and the Jedi Order, were a bit difficult to explain to non-Force-sensitives. Sometimes, it was better to just stay quiet about it. With Steela, she talked about the Order more than the Force itself, so bonds hadn’t come up with her either.

By the time Padmé came down, Shmi had a decent understanding of what they could and couldn’t do through the Force. Obi-Wan had done most of the talking since Anakin wasn’t making much sense, which was funny to Ahsoka. He had been a good teacher, but it probably helped that she’d already had schooling on the subject of the Force, so hadn’t needed to give such detailed explanations.

“How are you feeling?” Obi-Wan asked her.

“Hungry,” she said with a slight smile.

They had a simple dinner, and Padmé actually ate what could be considered a full meal. Ahsoka hoped that she would start to eat more soon or she’d waste away. But with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the handmaidens around, she was sure Padmé would be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Padmé has finally decided to get help for herself. The issue with her parents will be addressed in the next chapter...which probably won’t be up next week. This story is starting to fight me, but I think I just need to slow down, so I’ll try to aim for biweekly updates.


	28. Chapter 28

As Anakin stepped into the waiting room, he couldn’t help but smile. Obi-Wan had his head tilted back so that it was resting against the wall behind him, his eyes closed and his hands folded in his lap. To anyone else, he would appear to be sleeping, but Anakin could tell he was meditating. The man could literally meditate anywhere, which had simultaneously amazed and frustrated him when he was younger. With the new calming methods that Dr. Koostana had just taught him, he might actually be able to fall into a meditative state much more easily than before. It wasn’t that he liked to meditate, but he did admit that it had some benefits.

He felt very mellow after practicing those calming methods, and his mind was much quieter than it had been earlier. Anakin imagined it was what being totally immersed in the Force felt like. Obi-Wan had said that, to him, it was as if he was floating on a calm lake in the middle of a forest, the sun warming his body. It was supposed to feel a little different for everyone, so Anakin was never sure what to expect every time he tried.

Obi-Wan technically didn’t need to accompany him to his second counseling session since he hadn’t been nervous about it at all, but he let Obi-Wan believe that he needed moral support. Anakin wanted Obi-Wan to go with him to visit Padmé’s parents afterward because he needed Obi-Wan there to rein him in just in case he started yelling at them. Anakin had to do something to get her parents to apologize, and he thought maybe they only needed to be given a slight nudge to do so. For Padmé’s sake, and for the sake of their children, he didn’t want her relationship with them to be strained forever.

Obi-Wan turned around in his seat as soon as the speeder took off. “Shouldn’t we be heading in the opposite direction?”

“We’re not going to Varykino just yet.”

“Oh?” It was a well-known fact that Obi-Wan wasn’t fond of surprises, especially when they came from Anakin. “And why is that?”

“Because we’re going to see Jobal and Ruwee.”

Obi-Wan dug the heels of his wrists into his eyes. “Is that why you asked me to come with you? I knew something was off when you seemed so relaxed on the way here. You could have told me the truth, Anakin.”

He frowned as he tried to remember if it was at the first intersection that he was supposed to make a left. At least Obi-Wan was patiently waiting for Anakin to return to the conversation. While he did have a good sense of direction, he sometimes needed to have his full attention on his surroundings to avoid getting lost. “Then you wouldn’t have come,” he said once he was satisfied that they were on the correct road.

“I still would have, just to stop you from doing something foolish, like confronting Padmé’s parents.”

“Well, too late now.” Obi-Wan could stop him if he really wanted to, but that would lead to a fight, and they hadn’t had a real fight in weeks. Anakin hoped he would just go along with it. “We’re making a quick stop first.”

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and sighed. “Where to?”

Anakin pulled over and shut the engine off before pointing to the tech store they were in front of. He wanted to get a holocomm for his mother because he wanted to be able to hold a conversation with her rather than send messages. He already knew which model would be perfect, so he went straight to the counter and asked where he could find it. It wasn’t until after he paid for the holocomm that he noticed Obi-Wan was talking with someone. He didn’t like how they were smiling at each other, and when the person touched Obi-Wan’s arm, Anakin saw red. He marched over and grabbed him by the elbow. “We’re done here,” he said firmly as he pulled Obi-Wan toward the door.

Once they were outside, Obi-Wan attempted to yank his arm free, but since Anakin had used his right hand, his grip was a little too strong. “Let go of me. Now.”

Anakin did only to walk around to the pilot’s side of the speeder and hop in, but Obi-Wan just stood on the walkway as he glared at Anakin. He didn’t move even after the engine was turned on. “Well? Aren’t you getting in?”

“What the hell was that about? Were you jealous of a complete _stranger_?”

“No, now get in.” He really wasn’t jealous of some random person who happened to think Obi-Wan was attractive. It was his possessiveness rearing its ugly head for the first time in a while.

Obi-Wan pressed his lips together before he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he finally sat in the passenger seat, his movements stiff with barely concealed frustration. After a few minutes passed, he turned to Anakin and said, “You don’t have an issue with Padmé and I.”

“That’s different.”

“How?”

Anakin didn’t respond. It wasn’t a conversation he felt like having in that moment, not when he was trying to calm his nerves about seeing Padmé’s parents.

“How would you have reacted if I’d said that I was still in love with Satine?”

He was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to handle it. He certainly could have handled the situation with Clovis better, and Padmé had never even been in love with that guy. She’d told him multiple times that he needed to stop being so possessive, and he thought he was doing better, but imagining either of them with someone outside of their group made him clench his teeth. _I should probably bring this up at my next session._

After Obi-Wan finally got the hint that Anakin wasn’t going to cooperate, he huffed and looked away from him. “We’re talking about this later.”

And Anakin was fine with that because it was something they really did need to talk about. At least he hadn’t exploded. If it had been a few months ago, Anakin would be acting like a complete brat, so as his counselor suggested, he felt proud of the progress he’d made without thinking that it was ridiculous to do so.

When they were nearly there, Obi-Wan broke his silence, but the tension was still thick in the air between them. “Do you have any idea what you’re going to say?”

“I’m going to ask them what their problem is.” Then he’d just play it by ear, which was what he was best at.

“Well, that’s fairly obvious.”

“But I can’t understand how a parent could treat their own child like that. Just because she loves two people, that’s a good reason to shun her?” Anakin refused to believe the explanation was so simple.

“You might only make the situation worse.”

Anakin pulled up in front of their house and shut the engine off. _Watch, they’re not even home._ “I don’t think it could get any worse.”

“But it’s not your place. Padmé should be the one confronting them, not you.”

It didn’t matter what Obi-Wan said. Anakin had already made up his mind.

***

After Anakin rang the buzzer, Jobal was the one to answer the door, and the second she saw them, she gave them quite an impressive glare. “What do you want?”

“We’d like to talk, if you wouldn’t mind,” Obi-Wan said. Anakin had agreed that Obi-Wan should do the talking to actually get them inside. While Anakin was entirely capable of being polite, he usually ended up coming across as awkward. That was why Obi-Wan was the one who had taken the lead on diplomatic missions. When she hesitated, Obi-Wan added, “Or if this is a bad time, we can come back later.”

Jobal’s expression softened into a wary look, but she opened the door farther and stepped aside. “Ruwee isn’t home, so this is probably the best time for you to talk.” Jobal crossed her arms. “Would you like something to drink?” It was a reluctant question, one clearly born of routine.

Just as Obi-Wan declined, Anakin demanded, “When are you going to apologize to Padmé?”

Obi-Wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. _Why did I expect this to go any other way?_

“Did she send you?”

Anakin stood up to his full height as though he was trying to intimidate his mother-in-law. “No, she has no idea we’re here. She’s upset that you haven’t reached out to her.”

Jobal, in turn, nearly got in Anakin’s face. “Well, we’re upset with her actions.”

“Why? She’s your daughter. You should be supporting her.”

Anakin was being too combative, so Obi-Wan calmly stepped between them. “Is it because of how it would look to others, or is it something the two of you personally have an issue with?”

Jobal turned away from them and took a minute to answer. Perhaps she hadn’t examined her feelings on the matter and only stuck with her gut reaction. “Both. We simply can’t understand.”

Obi-Wan walked around her so that she was facing him again. “There are cultures where loving more than one person at a time isn’t considered to be strange. In fact, there’s even a town on Naboo where triads are somewhat common.” At her confusion, he quickly added, “A triad is what we are.”

“But how can there be equality among three people? Couldn’t two of you gang up on the other during an argument?”

“We would try not to do that, and we view our relationships with each other as equal, just different. We’re all new to this, but we’re trying our best to make it work.”

“And what about the child?”

“Children,” Anakin corrected. “She’s having twins.”

Obi-Wan came close to scowling at him. That was something Padmé should have told her mother.

“How sure are you that you’re the father?” Jobal asked after she recovered from her shock.

“Well, it’s impossible for Obi-Wan to be the father since he and Padmé haven’t . . . ” He shrugged and looked away.

Obi-Wan would be embarrassed if Jobal didn’t look so relieved. Maybe she had still thought it was “some sort of sex thing.”

“Because there are three of us, our children will receive even more love than most other children do.” Anakin took a step toward her, a plea in his eyes. “We all love each other, and that’s not going to change. It would mean a lot to us, especially Padmé, if you could accept that.”

Anakin’s earnestness seemed to be having the desired effect as the hard lines in Jobal’s face began to smooth away. Eventually, she sighed and walked back to the door. “I will speak with Ruwee when he gets home.”

They both thanked her as they left. Obi-Wan was amazed that it went as well as it did, but he still didn’t think they should have intervened. Anakin was definitely pleased with himself, and that had Obi-Wan frowning because if he hadn’t been there, Anakin truly would have made the situation worse. At least Anakin had recognized that as being a possibility, but he could have _asked_ Obi-Wan to come instead of tricking him.

About halfway back to Varykino, Obi-Wan decided to bring up what happened at the tech store. He wanted to talk about it when Anakin couldn’t avoid him, which he could easily do in a place as big as Varykino. “Why is it different with Padmé and I?”

Anakin took his eyes off the road for longer than Obi-Wan was comfortable with, as though looking at Obi-Wan would give him a clue as to what he was talking about. Once it clicked, and he was looking forward, he said, “Because after I started my relationship with you, I _wanted_ you and Padmé to be together. I thought it would be less complicated if all three of us were involved with each other. And I guess some part of me wanted to prove that I’m not possessive.”

So that was why Anakin had been pushing them together in the very beginning. Obi-Wan had a feeling his relationship with her would have happened naturally anyway, especially with them being around each other so much at Varykino, but Anakin was right. All of them being in a relationship together had made certain things easier. However, being in a triad came with its own unique set of problems they were doing their best to tackle.

“I sometimes think I’m not good enough for both of you,” Anakin said quietly, slouching a bit in his seat. “It’s not that I’m jealous of the stranger who has your attention. I don’t like that your attention is on that stranger because what if you finally realize I’m not worth all the trouble? What if you decide it’s all too much, and you leave both of us? I feel that if I don’t keep you close, I might lose you.”

Obi-Wan was startled by how deep Anakin’s insecurity went. After everything, he was still worried about being abandoned. “I won’t leave either of you, especially for someone else, and I’m quite sure Padmé won’t as well.”

“I know. I’m going to bring it up at my next session.”

Obi-Wan hated that Anakin thought so little of himself. If Anakin’s many issues truly bothered him, Obi-Wan wouldn’t have gotten into a relationship with him in the first place. He could only hope that the counselor would be able to help him work through all that. “You _are_ worth it, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said eventually, projecting his love for him through their bond. He didn’t know what else to do.

Anakin smiled. “Let’s not tell Padmé that we spoke with her mother.”

Obi-Wan was more than happy to move on to a different topic. “You know we shouldn’t keep secrets.”

“But she’ll be angry with us.”

“With you. I got tricked into going.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “You didn’t _have_ to go.”

That was true. He could have simply taken an air taxi back to Varykino after they left the tech store. She would be just as angry with him as with Anakin, so he wasn’t looking forward to that conversation at all.

\------

“You did _what_?”

Both of them flinched.

Padmé wasn’t surprised Anakin stepped out of line, but she never would have thought Obi-Wan would go along with it. While the two of them were her family, they had no right to intervene like that. It would have been different if it were years down the road, when Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t practically strangers to her parents. Her mother was probably insulted that they approached her about the issue.

“It’s mostly my fault,” Anakin said.

“If it’s any consolation, we seemed to have gotten through to your mother.”

“You still shouldn’t have done it.”

They agreed.

She sighed as she massaged her temples. “Thank you for telling me, but you have to promise to never do something like that again, at least not without my express permission.”

“Of course,” Anakin said while Obi-Wan nodded. “We only wanted to help.”

“For the record, I was against it from the start,” Obi-Wan said. It seemed he didn’t want to share any of the blame.

Both her and Anakin leveled a glare at him, and he raised his hands defensively.

Padmé would have to wait and see if what they said to her mother actually made a difference. Her father could be very stubborn, so even if they had gotten through to her mother, she still might not get an apology anytime soon.

After that was settled, the three of them went to the foyer to say their goodbyes to Shmi. Well, Anakin was going to accompany her and Teckla to the spaceport, so he would hold off until then. Padmé wished Shmi could have stayed longer. She still felt like she barely knew the woman.

Shmi gave her a strong hug. “Thank you for inviting me here. It was so nice to see all of you.”

“It was lovely to see you again, and thank you for the miracle drink. I haven’t felt nauseous once since I started taking it.”

Shmi smiled and squeezed Padmé’s shoulders slightly. “Try not to worry about the pregnancy too much. You’ll be fine.” Then she turned to Ahsoka, whom she also hugged. “I’m glad that you’re doing well. Whatever you choose to do, I know you’ll be great at it.” Finally, she stood in front of Obi-Wan. “I hope you understand that I’m just protective of him.”

“I do.”

She gave him a hug as well, which he clearly hadn’t been expecting, before she grabbed her bag and walked to the door where Teckla and Anakin were waiting. When Anakin tried to take the bag from her, she swatted his hands away, laughing. “It’s not heavy, Ani.” Then they were gone.

“It was good timing that I was here when she came to visit,” Ahsoka said with a smile.

“I’ll have to arrange for another visit soon.” Padmé started walking in the direction of the kitchen. Even though she ate lunch not too long ago, she was hungry again, which she decided to take as a sign that her appetite would finally be returning to normal. “Do either of you want a snack?”

“Only if we still have those tiny, blue cakes,” Obi-Wan said as he and Ahsoka followed her.

Having finally converted Obi-Wan into being a lover of sweets, Padmé did a little celebratory dance in her mind.

\------

Anakin hugged his mother outside the ship after Teckla went inside to give them some privacy. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“You as well, my sweet boy.”

“Mom, would you ever consider moving to Naboo?” He pulled back and looked down at her with a hesitant smile. “I don’t want my children to only see you a few times a year. I’d like for them to actually know you.”

“And I would like to watch them grow up.”

That sounded like a “yes,” but he didn’t want to get too hopeful. “You could even ask if Beru and Owen want to come.”

“I don’t think they would leave, but I’ll ask.”

“So . . . you’d really live here?”

Smiling brightly, she held his face between her hands. “Of course. We’ve been apart for far too long.”

Anakin hugged her again and tried to be mindful of his strength since he tended to hug people a little too tightly when he was excited. Tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes, but he didn’t care. He almost didn’t know what to do with so much happiness. Pulling away from him, his mother’s eyes looked a bit wet, so at least he wasn’t the only one. After he scrubbed the tear tracks from his face, he reached into his pocket and took out the holocomm. “This is for you.”

“Oh, Ani, that looks very expensive.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about that.” Anakin quickly showed her how it worked. “My frequency is already programmed into it. Now we’ll be able to have actual conversations with each other.”

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“And I’ll talk with Padmé about bringing you to Naboo.”

“The harvest is coming up, though, and I won’t leave them before that.”

He nodded. The harvest lasted for about two months, so that would give them plenty of time to get everything in order.

Anakin hugged his mother one last time and didn’t go to the port office until the ship was out of sight. He wanted to see how much time he and Obi-Wan had left on their ship’s registration, but it turned out Padmé had gotten it extended for another three months, and she put an order in for the ship to be stored in the underground hangar. Padmé really did think of the little things.

When he got back to Varykino, he immediately went to find Padmé to start figuring out how they could get his mother to become a resident of Naboo. Seeking out her presence in the Force, he was led to the dining room that was off the kitchen. Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka were chatting away, empty plates in front of them and a tea kettle sitting in the middle of the table, while Artoo was in the corner of the room like a watchful guardian. Anakin stood in the doorway for a moment and watched them with a smile. He always loved seeing them acting like a family.

“Hey, Anakin,” Ahsoka said once she spotted him. “Don’t worry. We didn’t eat all the cakes.”

“Obi-Wan’s been inhaling them, though, so you might want to grab a few for yourself before it’s too late,” Padmé said. She laughed at his frown as she leaned across the table to pat his forearm. “I think your love of shoo cakes is cute.”

“Please stop using the word ‘cute’ in reference to me.” But he sounded so resigned that he must have known she was going to call him that even at 80 years old.

Anakin sat next to Padmé and gave her a quick kiss. “How can we bring my mom to Naboo?”

It took a second for her to understand what he was truly asking. “Well, she would have to apply for citizenship, but it would get approved within a few weeks if she claims you as her family. The process for those who have family who are Nabooian citizens is much quicker.”

“Anakin has Nabooian citizenship?” Ahsoka asked.

She tapped her forehead as if she had just remembered something. “Technically not because we married under fake names. Damn.”

Obi-Wan paused in bringing his cup of tea to his mouth. “Why _did_ you use fake names anyway?”

“While it’s not a matter of public record, anyone in the government could look it up, so it wasn’t worth the risk to use our real identities.”

Anakin shrugged. “We’ll just have get married again, and Obi-Wan can get symbolically married to us since it’s not legal to be married to two people at once.”

Padmé whacked him on the shoulder. “Anakin!”

“What?”

“That was a terrible way to propose!”

He didn’t understand what the big deal was. The ceremony itself was far more important than the proposal. While he was still recovering from his injury, Padmé had asked him in a whisper if he wanted to get married. Being so far removed from the culture he grew up with, and no longer being a slave, he decided to follow whatever the Nabooian marriage customs were.

Marriage among slaves was actually very common. It was seen as a way to connect to others, even if it was for a short time since couples were often separated. Love wasn’t always a reason, but the couple at least held a deep fondness for one another. When it came to asking someone to get married, one person simply asked the other if they wanted to share aalnook with them, which was a part of the ceremony itself. Aalnook was a sweet dessert that was easy to make with relatively available ingredients, but what passed for sweet on Tatooine would be practically bitter to a native of Naboo.

Anakin had witnessed a marriage ceremony once not too long before he left to become a Jedi. His mother had been watching over one of the girls for the past few years, so she and Anakin had been invited. Normally, only one person was invited to the ceremony, but they didn’t mind Anakin being there. After they ate the aalnook, the lights were shut off so that the candle on the table cast a soft, yellow glow. Candlelight symbolized safety because, in freedom tales, it was used to lead the way out of slavery for those escaping in the night. The girls each passed their left hand through the flame while they held each other’s right hand. He knew from the stories that the left hand was used to free others and the right was used to keep freedom once it was found. Anakin had thought it was a beautiful ceremony, and when he and his mother went home afterward, he immediately went to work on his scanner. He was extra determined to get it functional because he wanted to see those two girls live their lives as free people together. Anakin wondered what happened to them in the years since then.

“It’s supposed to be a grand gesture,” Padmé said.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Okay, so how I asked you wasn’t typical.”

Obi-Wan cleared his throat.

 _Right, I should have asked him rather than just assume._ Facing him, Anakin took a deep breath. “Would you like to marry me and Padmé?”

“It wouldn’t be legal, so I don’t understand why it’d even matter.”

“We would still call you our husband,” Padmé said. “Anakin and I have been calling each other husband and wife even though our marriage isn’t legal.”

Obi-Wan didn’t say another word as he looked down at the table.

Padmé opened her mouth, but Anakin put his hand up as a signal to wait. Obi-Wan wasn’t upset. He was only thinking, or at least Anakin hoped that was the case. Obi-Wan hadn’t raised his shields, which was a good sign, and Anakin didn’t feel anything but minor confusion from him.

Finally, Obi-Wan sighed. “Since I’m stuck with you two, I may as well.”

“Wow, that was so romantic,” Ahsoka deadpanned.

Anakin went around the table and pulled Obi-Wan up into a hug, which Padmé soon joined. _Thank you_ , he sent to Obi-Wan before he kissed both him and Padmé.

“You’re crying.” Padmé cupped his cheek, her thumb wiping away the few tears that rolled down.

“Can’t help it. I’m just so happy.”

Ahsoka chuckled. “You’re going to cry throughout the entire wedding ceremony, aren’t you?”

Anakin responded by dragging her out of her chair and pulling her into their hug. Obi-Wan, for his part, didn’t miss a beat and put his arm around her.

“You guys are so ridiculous.” But she was grinning and hugging them back.

Then Artoo let out a few beeps and whistles that had Anakin laughing. “Artoo has been recording ever since I walked in. I told him a little while back to record random moments for the twins.”

Padmé huffed out a laugh as she shook her head. “Ani, they’re not even born yet.”

“I think it’s a nice idea,” Ahsoka said as they broke up their group hug.

Anakin quickly swiped his hand under his eyes before he rested it on Padmé’s stomach. “I’m hoping he catches Obi-Wan doing something embarrassing because I know they’ll get a kick out of it.”

Padmé covered his hand with hers and leaned to the side to give Obi-Wan a kiss, which caused his frown to melt into a slight smile. “They should know that Papa isn’t always serious.”

“Why would they even—” Obi-Wan looked to the floor, expression shuttered, but since his shields were down, Anakin was bombarded with multiple emotions that came and went too quickly for him to identify.

Padmé gave Obi-Wan’s upper arm a squeeze. “They don’t have to call you that if you don’t want them to.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s not that I’m averse to the name. I just . . . I hadn’t thought about it since I’d asked, and hearing you say it makes it seem more . . . real.”

Thinking about their little ones calling Obi-Wan “Papa” caused a tingling warmth to spread out from Anakin’s heart, and he could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes again.

“I think Anakin’s going to turn into a puddle of goo,” Ahsoka said, not bothering to hold back her laughter.

Padmé turned to him with a bright smile and brought him down for a fairly innocent kiss, most likely so as not to make Ahsoka uncomfortable. “We’ll be Mommy, Daddy, and Papa,” she whispered. “Now we just need to decide on names for the children.”

After he placed a kiss on her forehead, he held a hand out to Obi-Wan just as Padmé did the same. Obi-Wan sighed, but he took their hands and let them pull him into another hug while Ahsoka cooed in the background.

“I had no idea you were all so mushy.”

Anakin could tell Obi-Wan was about to deny it, but Padmé stopped him with a kiss.

_[Should I keep recording?]_

Smiling, he rested his cheek on top of Padmé’s head. “I think this is a good place to stop, Artoo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About Clovis, Anakin is referencing what happened in season 2, not in season 6. That hasn’t happened because of how far back in the timeline Padmé woke up. (But since Padmé had experienced it, I feel like I should mention that Anakin wasn't a massive dick during that arc. I may be referencing TCW events, but I'm basing most of Anakin's characterization on what we see in the movies, not the show.)
> 
> I really wanted Shmi to have an active role in the twins’ lives, and she deserves more than what she can get on Tatooine anyway. As for Obi-Wan and marriage, he couldn’t care less about it because it wasn’t a concept he grew up with, but he agreed to it since he knew it would make Anakin and Padmé happy.


	29. Chapter 29

Padmé had consumed way more caf than she probably should have, but the fatigue was hitting her hard, and she wasn’t going to cancel her visit with Sola and the girls because she had trouble keeping her eyes open. While she now had a way of dealing with the nausea, thanks to the amount of ingredients Shmi brought, she had no idea what to do about the sudden fatigue. Padmé had been feeling a bit drained on and off for the past month, but it hadn’t been so terrible that she could barely get out of bed. Anakin was already in the shower when she’d woken up, so Obi-Wan had to help her get moving. She was so glad that he’d decided to stay ever since that night he asked to join them. He hadn’t gotten to the point of moving his clothes into the room, but it was still an important step for him.

“How are you feeling?” Obi-Wan asked as they pulled up to Sola’s house.

“Still tired, but it’s manageable.”

She was sitting in the back with him, resting her head on his shoulder. After giving Anakin an extra long kiss—she didn’t know how else to include him—Padmé had snuggled up to Obi-Wan and closed her eyes. His awkwardness with her was one of the things Padmé really hadn’t wanted to go through again when she woke up in the past. It had taken so long to get to the point where he was truly comfortable around her in her old timeline, so she was grateful for the weeks spent at Varykino. It meant that her leaning against him no longer made him automatically tense up.

Padmé wished Ahsoka had come along, too, but she’d stayed behind since she felt it was a family event. Even though Anakin had tried to convince her that she _was_ family, Ahsoka still declined. Obi-Wan had to tell him to back down, and it nearly turned into a fight, but Ahsoka had enough experience in dealing with the two of them that she was able to diffuse the situation rather quickly. Padmé was used to dealing with Anakin more than both of them together, so she would have to ask Ahsoka for some tips later.

Sola had told Padmé to go straight to the backyard when they arrived, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the extra guests.

“Hello, Padmé.”

Her mother stepped forward just as Anakin and Obi-Wan flanked her. She could sense their unease, but she didn’t think it was necessary, not when both of her parents were wearing such contrite expressions. It almost seemed like her lovers’ meddling might have actually helped.

“Hello, Mother, Father.”

“We want to apologize for how we reacted,” her father said. He walked up to Padmé and put a hand on her shoulder, and considering he wasn’t usually the most tactile person, she knew he was being sincere. “And I’m sorry for saying that you have brought shame onto our family. If anyone makes a negative comment about your relationships, we will defend you.”

“We also want to apologize for our poor behavior toward you,” her mother said as she looked at Anakin and Obi-Wan, “especially you, Anakin. We didn’t mean to make you feel so unwelcome in our family. This is just . . . We weren’t expecting any of this, and we obviously didn’t handle it well.”

He nodded, probably biting his tongue for fear of saying the wrong thing.

Padmé hugged both of them, so relieved that she could cry. She hadn’t truly thought that her parents would disown her, but she had no idea when they would come around, and she was afraid it wouldn’t be until after the twins were born. At least Padmé had one less matter to be stressed about.

“Please know that we didn’t mean to hurt you, Padmé,” her father said.

She did know that, but it still didn’t erase the pain she’d felt in those weeks of silence.

“Well, now that that’s finally settled, come see the girls,” Sola said.

Her sister called them over, and Pooja barreled into Padmé before Ryoo gave her a much more subdued hug.

“I’d like you to meet Anakin and Obi-Wan,” Padmé said as she gestured to each of them. “And this is Ryoo and Pooja.” Sola had already informed her that the girls knew about the three of them and were completely fine with their situation. Padmé was sure it helped that Sola and her brother-in-law had no problem with it.

Both girls looked at them in awe. Then came the questions from the ever-curious Pooja.

“Are you really Jedi? Do you have your lightsabers? Can you jump onto the roof of our house? Can you read people’s _minds_?”

Obi-Wan only blinked while Anakin knelt in front of her and answered every question seriously.

“Ryoo wants to be a pilot,” Padmé said once he was done.

His eyes lit up. “Really? I did, too, when I was your age. Flying is the best. Have you ever seen an N-1 starfighter in person?”

Ryoo nodded.

“That was the first real ship I ever piloted. They’re pretty easy to handle, and they have such a great design. I like the color, too.”

“So do I,” she said quietly, looking at the ground, but she was smiling in a way that meant she’d already decided she liked him.

Then Anakin asked her what her favorite ships were and if she’d ever been in a cockpit, and Ryoo finally broke out of her shell.

Padmé turned back to her parents when she felt a hand on her arm.

“We’re going to leave now,” her mother said. “We don’t want to stay and make your . . . ” She waved a hand at Anakin and Obi-Wan.

“Lovers.” _Soon to be husbands._

“Right, we don’t want to stay and make them uncomfortable.”

Padmé couldn’t tell if her parents were the ones who were uncomfortable, but they were all going to have to get used to each other at some point. “Why don’t you stay and try to get to know them?”

Her mother looked back at her father before she nodded.

“I want you to know that I really hadn’t sent them to your house. I was angry with them for doing that.”

“We believe you,” her mother said.

“Are the babies doing well?” her father asked abruptly.

She frowned in Anakin and Obi-Wan’s direction. So they’d told her mother about the twins. _I bet it was Anakin’s big mouth._

“Everything is fine. My midwife is monitoring my progress closely.”

Sola walked up to her. “That’s good to hear.” Padmé had contacted her sister the day after she found out, so hearing about the twins wasn’t a surprise to her.

“How’s Darred?”

“Good, just very busy,” Sola said. “He wishes he could be here to meet your lovers. He’s so interested in how such an arrangement actually works.”

Padmé knew she was going to have to deal with invasive curiosity for a long time. She still wanted to go to Dee’ja Peak to see how they lived, and if it really came down to it, they could just move there. But it was terribly far from Theed, and Anakin really seemed to like his counselor. They had time to figure all that out, though.

“We looked up triads on the HoloNet,” her mother said. “That gave us a better idea of what this is, but we still think it’s strange.”

“Well, it works for us,” she said with a hint of petulance.

Looking at her lovers, Padmé smiled when she saw that they were sitting on the grass while Pooja was beginning to teach them how to make flower crowns. Obi-Wan was obviously struggling, so Ryoo was helping him. Padmé was going to have to borrow Sola’s holocamera later.

While Anakin and Obi-Wan were keeping the children busy, Padmé sat down at the outdoor table with Sola and their parents. “So Anakin and I are getting married again since we’d used fake names the last time. The three of us are also going to have a symbolic wedding. You’ll all invited, of course.”

“Count us there,” Sola said as she gave Padmé a big smile.

“How public is this going to be?” her father asked carefully. He looked as though he was afraid of creating a rift between them and Padmé if he said the wrong thing. In truth, the situation wasn’t that fragile.

“Just family, so Anakin’s mother and his former apprentice will also be invited.” Her handmaidens were invited as well, but she figured that was a given.

“When are you planning on having the ceremony?” her mother asked.

“After we return from Coruscant. We haven’t set a date yet, but it’ll probably be in about two weeks.”

Sola frowned in concern. “Why are you going to Coruscant?”

Padmé had forgotten that she never told them what really happened with Anakin and the Order, but she didn’t see the harm in giving a very brief explanation, especially since she was so tired of keeping secrets. “Well, Anakin didn’t actually resign. The Jedi High Council isn’t happy with how he killed Palpatine because he used a part of the Force that’s considered to be dangerous, and they have this irrational fear that he’ll try to destroy the Order. They wanted to lock him up without a trial, but we broke him out of the Temple, and he’s been in hiding ever since.” Considering how much her parents hated injustice, she knew that saying Anakin wasn’t going to be given a trial would earn him their anger on his behalf. “But we can’t keep living like this, always wondering if the Jedi will show up and try to take him away, so we want to have the whole thing settled.”

Sola’s frown nearly turned into a glare as she crossed her arms. “The more you tell me about the Jedi, the more I don’t like them as an organization.”

“How could they try to lock him up without a trial?” her father asked, shaking his head. “That’s absurd! And many people here see Anakin as a hero for killing that traitor. I doubt they care how he did it, especially since Palpatine was threatening you.”

Her mother stared at her with wide eyes. “I don’t understand why the Jedi are so paranoid. He’s such an awkward young man, and he seemed rather frightened on the night of the Feast. I can’t see him destroying anything, much less the entire Jedi Order.”

Of course, there was a lot more to it than what she told them, and they hadn’t ever witnessed Anakin’s rage, but she simply shrugged. He was getting help, so she was optimistic that his anger issues wouldn’t be something they’d have to worry about in the future.

“What would happen if the Jedi refuse to give up on him?” her mother asked as she leaned forward.

“I don’t know, but one of the leaders of the Order already spoke with him and believes that he isn’t a threat. Since they have their own problems to deal with right now, they’re not too concerned with Anakin.” Padmé realized that her parents still hadn’t said if they would go to the wedding, so she steered the conversation back to that topic. Afraid of rejection, she decided not to ask them outright. “I hope we’ll only be on Coruscant for a few days, but then there’s travel time. I’ll try to give you all a week heads up on the wedding date. I still have to bring Anakin’s mother from Tatooine.”

“Oh, he’s from Tatooine?” her mother asked.

Padmé was aware that Anakin didn’t want them knowing about his past, but that part was unavoidable. Besides, it wasn’t like they would jump to the conclusion that he had been a slave since she doubted they even knew slavery existed on Tatooine. “Yes, and with that planet being close by, it won’t take too long for her to get here.”

“Where would you be having the ceremony?”

“Same place as last time, Varykino.”

They weren’t doing a very good job at hiding their relief. Varykino was isolated, so no one who wasn’t invited would know about it. Padmé knew it would take time for them to get used to the choice she made, but it was still frustrating to see how reluctant they were to fully accepting it.

Sola gave them a pointed look. “You _are_ going, right?”

Her mother waved a hand dismissively. “Yes, yes. Of course we’re going.”

At the sound of Anakin’s laughter, Padmé turned to them and started laughing herself. Each of them were wearing flower crowns, but Obi-Wan also had tiny flowers in his beard, which was a testament to how long it had gotten. He looked absolutely adorable. She had no idea how Anakin convinced him to agree to it.

Before Padmé got up, Sola handed her a holocamera. “I figured you’d need it at some point,” she said with a smirk.

Padmé so loved her sister.

She walked over to them, brandishing the holocamera, and once Obi-Wan saw what she was holding, he looked at her as if he was in pain. Really, he should have expected such a thing from her. “I want all four of you together.”

Grinning, Anakin sat next to Obi-Wan while the girls stood behind them. That was when Padmé noticed that Anakin had taken his glove off, which was something he rarely did in public. Her nieces must have asked him about it. At least he was already comfortable around them.

“Now, Obi-Wan, you have to smile,” Padmé said.

Anakin bumped his shoulder into Obi-Wan’s. “We need to have holopictures to prove to the twins that we were in fact young once.”

“Am I still young? You’ve been calling me ‘old man’ since I was 29.”

“Okay, young _er_.”

Obi-Wan sighed and gave Padmé a smile that was equal parts resigned and amused. He must have figured out that, between Anakin and Padmé, there were going to be plenty of ridiculous holopictures and recordings of him to show the twins. After the picture was taken, he looked up at the girls and asked, “May I take the flowers out of my beard? Your aunt is merciless when it comes to teasing.”

They both giggled before Pooja said it was alright.

Oddly enough, he didn’t say anything about the crown. Padmé wondered if Anakin had made it for him.

A little while later, they were all seated at the table, eating shoo cakes and drinking qwoberry tea. The flower crowns had been put aside, and Anakin’s glove was back on. Awkwardness was beginning to settle in, but like at the Newlywed Feast, Padmé struggled to think of a safe topic to bring up. Eventually, it was her mother who broke the silence.

“Obi-Wan, why didn’t you tell us that you were one of the Jedi who were sent to help before the invasion?” She didn’t sound accusatory, just curious. “We looked you up on the HoloNet, and there was one article written about the celebration that mentioned you by name.”

He set his fork down slowly. “I didn’t want you to think I was bragging. It was something that happened a long time ago, and I hadn’t even done much. Padmé was the real hero.”

Smiling at him, Padmé took his hand in hers. “But you defeated Maul, and Anakin blew up the Droid Control Ship. We all played an important part in ending the invasion.”

Her father perked up and looked at Anakin. “ _You_ were the pilot?”

Padmé hoped Anakin wasn’t angry with her for revealing that. She wasn’t thinking about her parents’ reactions when she’d said it.

“I just got lucky,” he said with a shrug.

“But you must have been so young,” her mother said.

“I was nine.”

While her parents were trying to wrap their brains around that, Ryoo was staring at him with her mouth hanging open. Most children on Naboo knew the story of the invasion and that a single brave pilot had stopped it from turning into an all-out war. Ryoo already adored him, and learning he was that pilot would no doubt have her trailing after him wherever he went.

Her father gave them a Nabooian bow from his seat. “Thank you both for what you did for our planet.”

Anakin smiled a bit in response, but Obi-Wan looked down at the table, his shoulders hunched slightly. Obi-Wan had told her once that he never understood why people wanted to thank him when he was only doing his job. He never did anything for the recognition. Anakin, on the other hand, thrived on praise from those he cared about and from the Council, before that all went to hell. Coming from anyone else, though, it didn’t seem to have the same effect on him.

Padmé gave Obi-Wan’s hand a squeeze before she let go.

After Sola drained her cup, she said, “We should also be thanking them for what they did for the galaxy, since killing Palpatine was basically what ended the war.”

Looking at Anakin, Padmé tried not to cringe. Anything to do with Palpatine was still a touchy subject for him, but all he did was down the rest of his tea as though it was alcohol. Padmé knew Sola thought that by reminding their parents about it, they would be even more inclined to treat Anakin and Obi-Wan better, but she really wished her sister had kept her mouth shut.

“I didn’t know you had were involved in his death,” her mother said to Obi-Wan. Then she sighed and looked away. “You’ve both done so much good, yet we treated you so horribly.”

“They should be treated well regardless of the fact that they’re heroes,” Padmé said, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice.

Suddenly, Anakin stood and turned to Ryoo. “Hey, you said you wanted to show me your model ship collection.”

She beamed at him and nodded before she grabbed his hand and led him into the house. Then Pooja looked at all the adults and ran after them.

No one said anything at first. Padmé was simply glad that Anakin removed himself from a situation that was clearly making him feel uneasy.

“Did we say something wrong?” Sola asked hesitantly.

“Palpatine acted as Anakin’s confidant for over 10 years,” Obi-Wan said while keeping his gaze firmly on the table, “and Anakin hasn’t really dealt with the fact that the man was only using him.”

Padmé was going to brush it off, but Obi-Wan’s approach was probably for the best. At least her family would understand why they shouldn’t bring up Palpatine again.

“Using him for what?”

Padmé held in a sigh. Her mother could be a little tactless sometimes.

Anakin probably wouldn’t want them to know any more than what Obi-Wan had already said, but luckily, he seemed to realize that. “It no longer matters. Anakin is seeing a counselor, so I’m quite sure it will be addressed.” He finally looked up at them. “We would appreciate it if Palpatine isn’t discussed in Anakin’s presence.”

Her parents nodded while Sola mouthed an apology to Padmé.

\------

Ryoo took Anakin up to the bedroom she shared with her sister, and he could immediately tell which side was hers. He smiled as his eyes traveled across the stars painted on the ceiling, the drawings of various planets stuck to the walls, and the model ships that hung over her bed. If he had been allowed to decorate his room as a child in the Temple, it probably would have looked similar to Ryoo’s.

She went over to the numerous shelves that had miniature ships all lined up, and he knelt in front of them. Most were of Naboo, but he spotted one very familiar ship. “I flew that one in the war,” he said as he pointed to the grey and yellow starfighter. It was even the same color scheme as his old ship.

“The Delta-7B _Aethersprite_ -class light interceptor?”

Anakin looked at her, eyebrows raised.

Pooja, who had been watching from her side of the room, said, “Ryoo knows all the names of her ships.”

“That’s very impressive.” And she was only six years old. Anakin hoped his own children would have that much passion for ships, but even if they didn’t, he at least had his niece.

Ryoo gave him a shy smile and picked up the N-1 starfighter. “Did you really blow up the Droid Control Ship?”

“I did.”

“When I learned that one pilot could do that much good, I wanted to be a pilot, too.”

Anakin didn’t know how to feel about being an inspiration, but he hadn’t been a giant mess at that point in his life. He’d been a slave who had won his freedom—for the sake of his mental health, Anakin could no longer view it as being bought by Qui-Gon—he wanted to become a Jedi so he could free others, and he helped end a planetary invasion. Nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker was someone kids could look up to, but it would be years before he’d want anyone looking up to his adult self. Anakin desperately wanted to be the kind of person his children admired, and if he kept up with his therapy, he was sure that would be possible one day.

“Do you really love both Obi-Wan and Auntie Padmé?” Pooja asked.

He turned to face her, somewhat grateful for the subject change. “Yes, and we’re all getting married.”

“Three people can get married?”

“Well, no. Only your Aunt Padmé’s marriage to me will be legal, but Obi-Wan is still going to be our husband.”

She nodded, and her casual acceptance was refreshing. “So Obi-Wan’s gonna be our uncle.”

Grinning, he said, “You should call him Uncle Obi. He’d like that.”

And, really, for all Obi-Wan’s nervousness about being a parent, he was very good with Sola’s girls. He didn’t even bat an eye when they suggested putting flowers in his beard.

Being around kids just made Anakin more excited about being a father. He knew that the infancy period was going to be rough, but he didn’t care. Anakin already loved their children so much, and he couldn’t wait for them to be born so that he could finally meet them.

After talking with Ryoo about ships for a little longer, he decided they should go back outside. Jobal and Ruwee were finally starting to warm up to him, and he didn’t want them to think he was rude. He only hoped that Padmé gave some sort of explanation as to why he had to leave the table so abruptly.

Once they were in the backyard again, Anakin was relieved to see that Padmé’s parents were getting ready to leave. Even after their apologies, he’d been too on edge around them, and he was beginning to feel exhausted from it.

When it came time to say goodbye to him and Obi-Wan, her parents hesitated for a moment. Then they both bowed their heads with their right hands splayed across their stomachs, which he remembered was the formal way of wishing someone farewell, so that meant Anakin and Obi-Wan weren’t quite family to them yet. _Small steps_ , he thought as he repeated the gesture. Beside him, Obi-Wan did the same.

“Good luck with the Jedi,” Ruwee said just before they left.

Anakin froze.

“Sorry,” Padmé said as she came up behind him. “I gave them the short version of what happened. At this point, the less secrets the better.”

He nodded. “I guess there’s no harm in them knowing.”

Then Pooja began jumping up and down. “Let’s play a game!”

“You and Obi-Wan go ahead.” Padmé gently pushed him in the children’s direction. “I don’t have the stamina for games right now.”

Sola made no move to get up, so it was just going to be the four of them. Anakin knew Padmé could use some alone time with her sister anyway.

Ryoo took his hand and pulled him to a chest under a nearby tree. “C’mon, Uncle Obi!” she shouted over her shoulder. “You’re playing, too!”

Anakin turned to see Obi-Wan’s expression, and it was difficult to hold in his laughter.

***

Padmé couldn’t help but smile at Obi-Wan’s brief, wide-eyed shock. Anakin had clearly told them to call him that without his knowledge, so they would have to check with him later to see if he was actually okay with it.

“They’re good with children,” Sola commented.

“I’m confident in their ability to raise children, but I know it will be especially challenging for Obi-Wan since he was raised within the Order. At least Anakin had Shmi during his formative years, even though his circumstances were less than ideal.” Midway through that sentence, she’d realized what she was about to say, and only because of her political training was she able to correct her mistake without inserting an awkward pause, which would have made Sola suspicious. Anakin’s past as a slave was the one secret she had no qualms with keeping from her family. But Padmé had kept her marriage to Anakin a secret for years, so she should be a pro at not slipping up. _I’m getting too lax._

As she had hoped, Sola seemed to think she was referring to the fact that Anakin grew up on a planet as harsh as Tatooine. “So how is the pregnancy going?”

“Oh, it’s . . . very challenging. It probably wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t Force-sensitive.” _And if I wasn’t Force-sensitive myself._ She still wasn’t sure how to reveal that without going into the whole story of her actually being from the future.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to carry twins. I’d be terrified.”

Padmé gave her a wry smile. “That’s so comforting to hear.”

Sola leaned forward and rested her hand on Padmé’s shoulder in apology. “If you ever need any help— Well, I guess you have tons of that, between those two and your handmaidens. The handmaidens are with you at Varykino, right?”

“They are, but thank you for the offer, Sola. I’ll probably be asking you for advice once they’re born. None of us have any experience with infants.”

“Of course. There’s a holoseries on infant care that really helped us. I’ll send you the title.”

Padmé nodded her thanks. She hadn’t even thought of looking into holovids for help.

“How long are you planning on staying at Varykino?”

“I’m not sure since I still have to discuss it with Anakin and Obi-Wan, but I was thinking maybe for a year after the twins are born.” It was so peaceful out in the Lake Country, and maybe that would help them get through the stressful period of figuring out how to actually take care of two infants. Realistically, she knew that all the research in the galaxy wasn’t truly going to prepare them for what was to come. It would only give them a starting point. “I just hope they don’t start using the Force before we settle into some kind of rhythm. Obi-Wan said that it’s different for every child, but it would probably be when they’re around five months old.”

Sola’s eyebrows shot up. “Stars, I didn’t realize it could be that soon! At least your lovers should be able to handle it, right?”

“I hope,” Padmé said with a shrug.

Sola looked down at her lap as she slumped in her chair. “I’m just glad that our parents finally saw the error of their ways. Mother certainly never expected them to show up at their door.”

“I have no idea what Anakin and Obi-Wan actually said to her, but at least they promised never to do that again. We’re lucky it worked in our favor.”

Her eyes back on Padmé, she cocked her head to one side. “How does Anakin’s mother feel about all this?”

“Shmi doesn’t mind the three-way relationship. What bothered her was the fact that Obi-Wan used to be Anakin’s teacher.”

“I’d actually forgotten that Obi-Wan said Anakin had been his apprentice. I guess it’s different on Tatooine.”

It wasn’t looked down upon in Theed and other cities on Naboo for a former student to become involved with a teacher years later. Padmé had assumed that was why her family hadn’t commented on Anakin’s history with Obi-Wan.

“Jedi apprenticeship isn’t the same as taking classes at a university. Anakin was his student for 10 years. But please keep that to yourself. Mother and Father don’t need a reason to get hostile again.”

Sola quickly sat up straight, her shock apparent in the Force even more so than on her face. Then she looked over at the group that was sitting in the circle on the grass, and Padmé did the same.

She couldn’t tell what game they were playing, but they all looked like they were having a good time. Obi-Wan’s shields had finally come down, so she could feel the happiness radiating from him. When Anakin reached out and poked Obi-Wan’s nose, Padmé could hear a distinct “I am not cute” from Obi-Wan before the girls started laughing. Obi-Wan crossed his arms, obviously trying to project annoyance, but the image was ruined by his smile.

“I won’t say anything about it to them,” Sola said. “Everyone being happy is all that matters.”

Padmé smiled at her lovers and knew that whatever trials they would have to undertake in the future, they would all come out on the other side in one piece. After all, they had made it that far.

They left about an hour later with the girls giving each of them a hug, much to Obi-Wan’s surprise, and Padmé promising Sola that she’d let her know how it went on Coruscant.

She sat in the back of the speeder with Obi-Wan again and righted the flower crown on his head. Both him and Anakin had taken the crowns with them at Pooja’s insistence. Obi-Wan smiled at her before he said he would probably have to get used to such strange activities whenever they visited. She could tell he hadn’t actually minded, though. With a yawn, Padmé leaned against him and quickly fell into a light sleep, his arm around her.

Obi-Wan gently shook her awake when they’d arrived, but she was too tired to move just yet. Even though she could have walked on her own, Anakin decided to carry her to the gondola speeder and then to the lake house itself, saying she barely weighed anything at all. Then he brought her to their bedroom—it wasn’t just hers anymore—and Obi-Wan held her upright while Anakin undid the complicated clasps of her dress.

Once Padmé woke up a bit more, she noticed that Obi-Wan was keeping his gaze on the ceiling. “Obi-Wan, I don’t have a problem with you seeing me naked, so I definitely don’t have a problem with you seeing me in my undergarments.”

His cheeks went pink, and Anakin chuckled behind her.

Suddenly, her body wanted sex more than sleep. The fatigue hadn’t gone away completely, but it was easier to ignore. _Damn hormones._ Padmé didn’t doubt that her Force-sensitivity had something to do with it, too, because she didn’t remember that sort of thing happening so soon in the pregnancy last time.

She pulled Obi-Wan down for a kiss after her dress fell to the floor.

“You are much too tired,” he said after the parted.

“I’m fine,” she said as she reached behind her to grab Anakin’s hand. “This is what I want.” At their hesitation, she let out a frustrated sigh and said, “Of course, we can always stop if I feel that it’s too much.”

Obi-Wan’s brow was furrowed in concern, but when he looked at Anakin, he slowly smiled. “Alright.”

“You understand that I want _you_?” She wasn’t sure what either of them were thinking or if Obi-Wan was comfortable with having sex with her. When they almost slept together before, he said he wanted to, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t changed his mind.

He brushed her hair away from her face. “Yes, I understand.”

Anakin seemed to like the idea of watching them, but Padmé wanted him to participate, not just for her sake but for Obi-Wan’s as well. He would probably be more at ease if Anakin was involved since he was familiar to him. To get Obi-Wan relaxed, Anakin undressed him while they kissed, and oh, how Padmé had missed watching the two of them together. It felt like something passed between them, but she couldn’t bring herself to get annoyed with the use of their bond in that moment.

Once there was only one article of clothing left to remove, Obi-Wan stopped him. “Aren’t you a bit overdressed?”

Anakin blinked and took off his clothing in seconds, causing both her and Obi-Wan to laugh. “What? It’s a lot quicker to get out of this than Jedi robes.”

Just as impatient, Padmé removed her undergarments without any fanfare, and Obi-Wan stared at her as if he’d never seen a naked woman before, which she knew wasn’t the case.

Anakin smirked at him. “Now who’s overdressed?”

“I think you should finish what you started,” Padmé suggested as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Obi-Wan snapped out his daze when Anakin stepped behind him and put his hands on his hips. After Anakin hooked his thumbs under the waistband, Obi-Wan was just as exposed as the rest of them. He flushed slightly under her gaze, but he walked over to her when she held out her hand to him.

Once he was sitting beside Padmé, she drew him down into a passionate kiss. Then the bed dipped on the other side of her, and Anakin rested his hand on her thigh while he kissed her shoulder. In that moment, she knew what she wanted. Breaking the kiss with Obi-Wan, Padmé turned to Anakin and kissed him while giving his hair a sharp tug. He let out a startled sound and pulled back, licking his lips. Anakin knew from past experience what that meant, so he motioned for her to lie down.

As Anakin was settling himself between her legs, she looked to Obi-Wan and smirked when she saw the open lust in his expression. Padmé always got more pleasure out of her lovers’ emotional reactions rather than their physical reactions. “You should touch him while he’s putting his mouth to good use.”

Her eyes fluttered shut on a gasp once Anakin got to work. When she opened them again, Obi-Wan was kneeling beside Anakin, his fingers trailing down his spine. Padmé knew when Obi-Wan had wrapped his hand around Anakin’s length from the moan that had her pushing up into his mouth, and he moaned again after she buried her hands into his hair and yanked hard.

It didn’t take long for her to come undone, but it never did when Anakin went down on her. He’d spent a lot of time perfecting that skill ever since the first time he tried it. Anakin had told her it was his favorite thing to do in bed, take her apart with his tongue. He followed her soon after, and once he caught his breath, he kissed her inner thigh before sitting up to capture Obi-Wan’s mouth with his own in a quick kiss.

Padmé could feel Obi-Wan’s desire in the Force without even having to concentrate, and he was on top of her as soon as Anakin had collapsed onto the bed next to her. She thought this would be like one of those very few instances in her old timeline when Obi-Wan had been so overcome by his hunger for her that his lovemaking mirrored Anakin’s in pace and intensity, but he was slow and gentle instead. Padmé didn’t bother putting her shield up since she realized that she wasn’t in any danger of being overwhelmed by his emotions like she had with Anakin. Perhaps Anakin really was that unique, that he simply felt everything so much more than everyone else.

“You’re both so beautiful,” Anakin murmured as he lightly ran his mechanical fingers down her arm.

She held her hand out, palm up, and he grabbed it just as she moaned through her second release. A few more thrusts, and Obi-Wan gasped into the crook of her neck. He stayed there for a moment before he reached for something on her nightstand, which she soon realized was the tissue box. Obi-Wan did tend to have just enough energy afterward to clean up his lovers. Padmé and Anakin usually couldn’t be bothered and would rather deal with the stickiness after getting some much needed rest.

Obi-Wan coaxed them into lifting themselves off the bed so that he could throw the comforter to the floor to be washed later. He also managed to get the sheet out from under them, so when they wordlessly agreed on taking a short nap, they at least had something covering them. Anakin cuddled up to Padmé on her right while Obi-Wan, who obviously needed a little space, simply rested his hand on her stomach.

When Padmé woke up, Anakin was plastered to her back, an arm slung over her midsection. Obi-Wan was already awake, and he smiled when their eyes met. She returned the smile and ran her fingers through his mussed hair.

Considering they were all much more close-knit than in her old timeline, it wasn’t surprising that the first time her and Obi-Wan slept together lacked any kind of drama. Not once had she worried about Anakin’s reaction, and even Obi-Wan’s nerves hadn’t been as bad. She sent a prayer to the gods that it wouldn’t all be ruined when they went to Coruscant.

Anakin’s arm tightened around her as he gradually woke up, and he kissed her neck before proclaiming his love for both of them.

“I love you, too, Ani.” Knowing he didn’t have any sensation in his forearm, she patted his thigh so that he’d let her go. “We should wash up before going downstairs to eat.” They hadn’t had dinner yet, and Padmé was starving.

“Can we shower together?” Anakin asked as he rolled onto his back. “We’d all fit.”

“I think that would be a little counterproductive,” Obi-Wan said, clearly amused.

Padmé sat up with a chuckle, relieved to find that her fatigue from earlier was a lot less prominent. “Maybe next time. I’ll shower first so that I can try to alleviate the awkwardness with Ahsoka before you two make it down to the dining room.”

They both cringed at that.

“I’m sure she put her shields up,” Anakin said.

Obi-Wan was about to get out of bed to make it easier for Padmé, but she just straddled him, gave him a deep kiss, and ground down onto his hips a little before she climbed off of him and walked to the fresher. Padmé winked at Anakin, who was smiling at her, before she closed the door. _I’ll have to apologize to Ahsoka for getting them worked up again._

***

The second the door was shut, Anakin threw back the sheet and pounced. Obi-Wan yelped, even though he had to be expecting it. “I want you like that,” Anakin said in between kisses.

“Like what?”

He looked Obi-Wan in the eye. “I want what you gave Padmé.”

The wave of desire that he felt through their bond almost knocked him over, but Obi-Wan was shaking his head. “We don’t have the necessary amount of time to do that.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Obi-Wan flipped them, and it was Anakin’s turn to yelp in surprise. “Trust me, it’s not that I don’t want to.” Obi-Wan began stroking him, and it was a struggle to keep his eyes open. “But I know what it’s like to skip any sort of prep, and it’s not enjoyable in the slightest.”

Anakin didn’t want him to stop, but he had to make sure his pleasure-addled brain had simply misinterpreted what he’d said. Grabbing Obi-Wan’s wrist, he asked, “Did someone force themselves on you?”

“What? No, that’s not what I meant at all. We were young and had no idea what we were doing. In fact, we ended up not even going through with it since it was too painful. So I am _not_ doing that with you unless we do it right.”

Anakin smiled up at him and nodded before he let go of his wrist and grabbed onto another part of Obi-Wan, causing him to gasp slightly. Maybe it would be better to save that for their wedding night.

Then Obi-Wan leaned down and whispered, “Besides, I have a feeling Padmé would like to watch.”

A shiver ran through Anakin’s body at the thought.

Obi-Wan found his release first, and when he let go of Anakin and moved away from him, Anakin actually whined. But the sound was choked off when Obi-Wan took him into his mouth. Padmé liked to say that Anakin had a wicked tongue, but the very same thing could be said about Obi-Wan. Anakin bit his lip to keep from crying out, and as he tried to catch his breath, he felt like he could use another nap.

Apparently, Obi-Wan was just as tired because he used the Force to get the box of tissues, even though it was less than a meter away. Anakin didn’t see the point in getting cleaned up when he was going to be hopping in the shower, but he let Obi-Wan wipe him down.

Anakin grinned. “Why, Obi-Wan, was that an inappropriate use of the Force?”

He rolled his eyes and set the box on the nightstand by hand.

Then Anakin pulled him back down so they could cuddle until it was their turn to use the shower. He was going to insist they take one together since it would be quicker, and it wasn’t like either of them would be able to get it up again that soon anyway. Obi-Wan merely chuckled and relaxed in Anakin’s hold.

When Padmé stepped out a few minutes later, he gave her a thumbs up, and she laughed as she went into her closet. “Go on, you two,” she called out to them.

\------

At Ahsoka’s groan, Dormé gave her sympathetic look. “Still?”

“More like ‘again.’”

Unfortunately, Ahsoka’s shields could only do so much. After she put them up, she no longer felt anything from Obi-Wan or Padmé, but Anakin was incredibly difficult to block out. While she was happy for them, she also wanted to throttle them. She supposed she should just be grateful it wasn’t happening during the night when she was trying to sleep. But how was she going to be able to look Anakin in the eye ever again?

“At least they aren’t fighting,” Moteé said after she put down her card.

“When did they fight?” Teckla asked. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“Exactly. They never do, or at least not out in the open.”

Ahsoka put her card down with a grin, and the handmaidens swore. She won that round, which they claimed was unfair since she had only just learned how to play tee’jo. “Anakin told me that ever since they’ve been more open with each other, they really only fight about stupid things, like what holodramas they should watch.” The fight that nearly broke out last night when Ahsoka said she’d rather stay at Varykino was an exception.

“Anakin loves romance dramas,” Saché said while Dormé reshuffled the cards. “He caught me reading a story based on _The Corellian Affair_ , and we had an hour long talk about our favorite dramas.”

Dormé raised an eyebrow. “When does a Jedi even have time to watch romance dramas?”

“We usually had a lot of time to kill while we were in hyperspace, so Anakin would secretly download a bunch of episodes onto a datapad before we’d leave for a mission. Obi-Wan’s into crime thrillers. I watched one with him and Anakin once on the way to the Outer Rim, and he just kept talking out loud as he tried to solve the mystery before the characters did. Anakin must be used to it because he just ignored Obi-Wan, but I wanted to scream at him to shut up.”

“I could definitely see him doing that,” Moteé said as she and Saché laughed.

“Padmé is a fan of horror,” Dormé said. “Her favorites are from Rodia since they don’t rely on gore.”

That took Ahsoka by surprise. She’d always thought Padmé was into romance or maybe political dramas.

They continued their game in silence until Saché asked, “Are you nervous about going to Coruscant?”

Ahsoka knew the handmaidens were nervous, and it wasn’t just for Padmé. They’d obviously grown fond of Obi-Wan and Anakin, and it seemed that they didn’t hold the Jedi in high regard. After everything that had happened, Ahsoka couldn’t blame them. “Yes, but it needs to be settled.” She just wished she had some idea of what to expect.

Padmé walked in soon after.

“There are leftovers in the cooling unit,” Dormé said,  glancing up from her cards. She must have a good hand.

Ahsoka hoped Padmé would just act like nothing had happened. While she’d learned that ignoring certain things wasn’t healthy, this was definitely something she had no issue with pretending it never took place.

Padmé stopped beside her. “Are you okay?”

 _So much for that._ “I am, but please tell them that I will die if they try to talk to me about it.”

Her lips quirked into a smile before her expression smoothed out into something neutral. “I seriously doubt Obi-Wan would do anything of the sort, but I’ll make sure Anakin doesn’t.”

After losing that round to Dormé, Ahsoka excused herself from the game and decided to just avoid the three of them for the rest of the night. Once she was in her room, she took out her holocomm and contacted Steela.

“Hey, how are you?”

 _“I’m good. It’s been too quiet without you around, though,”_ she said with a grin.

Ahsoka laughed. “Are you saying I’m loud?”

_“Not at all. You just bring a little more life to the apartment. How’s it going? Is Skywalker’s mother still there?”_

She’d commed her a few times since arriving on Naboo, even though she hadn’t been gone for that long. Ahsoka had known for over a year that she was attached to Anakin, but forming a romantic attachment to Steela really solidified the fact that the Jedi had it all wrong. Attachments didn’t lead to the dark side. If anything, Ahsoka felt that they strengthened her connection to the light side of the Force.

“No, she left, and right after that, Anakin asked Obi-Wan to marry him and Padmé.”

In telling Steela about them, Ahsoka had learned that it was legal and not at all scandalous for someone to be married to more than one person at a time in most parts of Onderon. Triads weren’t very common, but given how much work had to go into that particular arrangement, Ahsoka wasn’t surprised.

_“Oh! Tell them I send my congratulations.”_

“I will. Actually, there’s a specific reason I’m contacting you. We’re heading to Coruscant tomorrow to confront the Council. Just in case it gets ugly, and I’m out of contact for a while, I wanted you to know so that you don’t worry.”

Steela frowned. _“I’d still worry, but I know you can handle yourself. If you need me and the team to break you guys out, though, we will. You all believed in us, so it’s only right that we offer you help.”_

Ahsoka hadn’t been expecting that response. Not that she would want anyone else to get involved in something as messy as the Jedi attempting to imprison someone without a trial, she did feel some of the tension in her chest ease a little. “Thank you, but I don’t think it’ll come to that. The most they’ll do is try to lock up Anakin again since me and Obi-Wan technically didn’t break any laws. Between the two of us, and anyone else on our side, I doubt the Council will get what they want.” Since no charges were ever formally brought against Anakin, breaking him out of the Temple wasn’t against any laws of the Order or the Republic. In all truth, since the Order was supposed to follow Republic laws, what they had done to Anakin was illegal, but there was always a gray area when it came to the Republic’s legal system and the Order.

_“Either way, just say the word. And, Ahsoka? Please be careful.”_

“I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now the parent situation is much better. And it’s a good thing the handmaidens aren’t Force-sensitive, but poor Ahsoka...
> 
> Up next is Coruscant, but considering I haven’t even started that chapter yet, I can’t guarantee it’ll be up in two weeks. (I do have it outlined, though, so that helps. I actually have most of the remaining chapters outlined.)


	30. Chapter 30

“I’m going to lie down,” Padmé said once they entered hyperspace. “Just wake me in an hour.”

Their trip to Coruscant was only going to take a little over a day, which had Anakin and Obi-Wan thanking the power of her ship’s hyperdrive. Of course her yacht would travel faster than their getaway ship, no matter how updated it was. At least they wouldn’t have to be in a state of anxiety for too much longer. With their shields down, she could feel the nervousness from all three of them, but only Obi-Wan was good at pretending otherwise.

On her way to the main bedroom, Dormé asked her if she needed anything. Since her lovers and Ahsoka were going to the Temple, her handmaidens had insisted that one of them be with her. Padmé doubted she was in any kind of danger, but she knew there wasn’t a point in arguing with them.

“I’m fine, thank you. I just need to rest my eyes.” But that hour felt like a minute because Padmé swore her head had only just hit the pillow when she felt a hand on her shoulder. “Already?” she asked as she looked up at Anakin.

“You can go back to sleep if you want to.”

Padmé shook her head and sat up. She did feel a little better, enough to function at least. Besides, Padmé didn’t want to spend the whole trip sleeping. She could get as much sleep as she wanted after the issue with the Jedi was resolved, if it went their way.

Anakin hesitated for a moment before he sat on the edge of the bed. “You do understand that I’d do anything to remain free, right?”

She wondered what brought that on. “Well, not _anything_. You wouldn’t go on a killing spree.”

“No, of course not.” He looked down at the comforter and started picked at a loose thread. “I don’t think anyone will turn to violence, especially since Windu is on our side. I want to show them that I’m better outside of the Order, that I have more control over myself.” His hand stilled, and he looked at her with what she thought was a glint of confidence in his eyes. “Overall, I feel calmer than when I was a Jedi.”

That probably wasn’t just due to getting therapy. Not having to hide his emotions and being able to spend as much time as he wanted with those he loved had to be contributing factors. She definitely noticed the difference in his behavior, and she would have to agree that he seemed calmer. Him no longer fighting in the war must be helping as well. That was one topic they hadn’t really touched upon ever since they reunited at Varykino. Padmé couldn’t say how much the war had changed Anakin because she didn’t know him very well before the fighting began. _Yet I asked him to marry me anyway. We shouldn’t have rushed into it._

“What will you do when you face the Council?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” he said with a shrug.

Padmé cupped his cheek and smiled at the warmth he was projecting through the Force. That was how his love always felt to her, a warmth that nearly overwhelmed her senses. Not for the first time, Padmé wondered what her love felt like to him. “I will make their lives miserable if they try to hurt you in any way.” She already wanted to do that for everything they’d done to him over the years, but that wouldn’t help their current situation.

Anakin turned his face toward Padmé’s hand and kissed her palm before he moved to sit beside her. “Once this is all over, I want the two of us to spend more time together. There’s a lot I still don’t know about you. I didn’t even know you weren’t from Theed until Dormé corrected me.”

She nodded, realizing he had a point. A lot of her time at Varykino had been spent on research and trying to work through her pregnancy symptoms. She had spoken with Anakin and Obi-Wan, of course, but there were plenty of important conversations that were yet to be had, ones that hadn’t taken place even in her future. In truth, she felt a little guilty about not spending more time with them one-on-one. “There’s a lot I don’t know about you either, but I’m not going to ask you to talk about painful events in your life.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to tell you about certain parts of my life. I’m just afraid of making you sad.” He leaned into her until their shoulders were touching. “They’re not pleasant things to hear about.”

“Don’t worry about that. If you ever want to tell me about yourself, I would be honored that you feel comfortable enough to open up to me.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Of course I feel comfortable with you. I always did because you never judged me for my past or my emotions. You’ve always accepted me for who I am.”

And Padmé had a hunch that she was the first person to do that since he’d been taken to the Temple. Anakin had told her years ago that, during his apprenticeship, Obi-Wan was critical of everything that made him the antithesis of a Jedi, like he was never good enough. She hadn’t seen that happen at Varykino, so perhaps Obi-Wan had finally accepted all of him.

“Part of the reason why I fell for you was because you only saw me as Padmé, not a queen or a senator. I was so used to people being friendly toward me because I have power and money, but you never cared about either of those things.” She tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “Do you know what ran through my head when we met on Tatooine? Anyone who can be so kind while being treated so horribly must have a beautiful soul. I had sometimes thought about you during our 10 years apart, and I’d hoped you were doing well.”

Anakin perked up, and for a second, he looked so very young. “You thought about me?”

“Oh, Ani,” she said as she held his face in her hands. “Of course I did. You left quite an impression.”

He gave her a lopsided smile. “I doubt you were thinking about me in the same way I was thinking about you.”

She let go of him and patted his thigh before pointing at the door. He stood, and she let him help her off the bed, even though she was perfectly capable of doing that on her own. “I didn’t hold any romantic feelings for you until we met again. In my mind for those 10 years, you were still a child.” Padmé sighed. “But you really had come on a little too strong in the beginning.”

His face went a bit red, and he looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry.”

Padmé winced. She understood why he’d acted like that. Anakin didn’t know how to approach her with his feelings with any kind of subtlety. It wasn’t like he had anyone to learn from when it came to romance, and holodramas certainly didn’t count. But it was strange to Padmé that Anakin hadn’t picked up any kind of technique from Obi-Wan, who could charm nearly anyone if he really wanted to. Then again, once she’d finally gotten past that flirtatious barrier, Obi-Wan had been surprisingly unsure of himself.

Going up to Anakin, she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “It’s okay. I never held it against you. And I want you to know that I’m so proud of how far you’ve come since our first serious talk all those months ago.”

Smiling a bit shyly, he enveloped her in a gentle hug.

Padmé leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist with a contented sigh. Whenever he held her like that, it was easy to forget about her troubles.

\------

While Dormé taught Anakin and Obi-Wan how to play tee’jo in an effort to distract them from their growing anxiety, Ahsoka went to find Padmé. She turned out to be in the kitchenette, drinking that awful concoction that kept her nausea at bay.

“Is it getting bad again?”

“It was starting to, so I figured I’d drink it now.” After she rinsed out the cup and sat at the small table, she motioned for Ahsoka to join her. “How are you?”

Ahsoka sat down and shrugged. “I’m worried about all the ways our visit can go wrong, but I’m trying to be optimistic.”

“I meant in general. How have you been? We haven’t had a chance to talk about your time on Onderon.”

“Well, there’s something I actually want to ask you about, something I can’t ask either Anakin or Obi-Wan.” She folded her hands on the table and took a deep breath. “I need dating advice.”

Padmé laughed. “I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you,” she said quickly. “It’s that you definitely _can’t_ ask them. I can only imagine what horrible advice Anakin would give.”

“That I should compliment Steela by saying she’s nothing like sand.”

“Ah, you heard about that one,” Padmé said with a grin. “Alright, so how far have you gotten with her?”

“Just some hand holding and a few kisses.”

For whatever reason, talking about it with Padmé wasn’t embarrassing at all. She hadn’t been sure what to expect, but Padmé seemed to be eager to help, and she had more experience than the rest of them. Well, that was what Ahsoka assumed, considering Padmé hadn’t grown up in a culture where dating was forbidden. Ahsoka had almost went to Saw for advice, but then she thought that asking about how to date his sister would be a little weird for him, and she wasn’t close enough to anyone else on Onderon to feel comfortable asking about such a thing.

“No talk about being in a relationship?”

Ahsoka shook her head.

“Communication is key. Steela may not want to be in a relationship, or she may think you’re both already in one. If she wants to move forward, then take her out somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Lunch if you want to keep it on the casual side and dinner if you want to be more romantic. Or you can ask her what she’d want to do. Maybe there’s a specific Onderonian custom when it comes to dating.”

That didn’t sound too bad. “So basically, just talk to her and figure out how to move forward, if that’s what she even wants.”

Padmé nodded. “Exactly.”

“Okay, I can do that. Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

They chatted a bit longer, with Ahsoka telling Padmé about what she’d been up to on Onderon and Padmé telling her about the strange things she’d come across in her research on parenting. Ahsoka realized that if her and Steela did become serious, she’d have to let Steela know that she didn’t want to raise children. That was probably something they would have to agree on to maintain a relationship.

After she got a few hours of sleep, which was all her brain seemed to be allowing, she went into the cockpit to see how much longer they had before they reached Coruscant. Unsurprisingly, Anakin was sitting in the pilot’s chair, staring out at the swirls of hyperspace. Ahsoka doubted he’d gotten any sleep at all.

“Hey, Ahsoka.”

“Hey.”

She noticed that he called her “Snips” less and less after Mortis, but she didn’t know why. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, so she didn’t bother asking him about it. Mortis was still an odd subject to talk about, mostly because none of them were entirely sure it had actually happened.

Sitting in the copilot’s chair, she saw that they still had about seven hours left. She held in a sigh and tried not to be impatient. Ahsoka didn’t know how Anakin could stand all this waiting. His shields were up, so he probably wasn’t in very good shape, emotionally.

Anakin suddenly turned the chair to face her. “I was thinking about how you said there’s no word for ‘brother/father’ in Basic. Is there a word for it in another language?”

That came out of nowhere. “Yeah, in Togruti it’s _nirruno_. I’ve been trying to learn about my people, and I looked into their language a bit.”

He cocked his head to one side and asked her to say it a few more times before he tried it himself. His pronunciation was near perfect, but that wasn’t surprising since he was fairly good at picking up languages.

“What’s the word for ‘daughter?’”

Luckily, her memory was such that she could pick out images rather easily, and she had studied the list of familial terms not too long ago. “ _Karun_. It’s a rolled ‘r,’ not trilled. There’s actually a lot of trills in Togruti, and some vowels can only be pronounced correctly by using our lekku. It’s a pretty language, but it’s difficult to learn on your own.”

Anakin nodded as he got to his feet. Smiling, he walked over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “When we get to the Temple, try not to do anything I would do, Karun.”

She smiled back at him. “Don’t worry. Everything will turn out alright, Nirruno.”

\------

With only two hours to go, and something of a plan worked out, Obi-Wan went to check on Padmé in the main bedroom. He had thought that after sleeping with her, there would be some degree of awkwardness on his part. Instead, he was actually more at ease with his love for her. Obi-Wan still hadn’t been quite sure where he fit, but last night proved to him that they truly felt he belonged, that his place was right beside them. With his lovers, he felt safe, which was something he hadn’t known he needed. Even if he struggled with what he wanted to do with his life for years to come, he would never regret choosing them over the Order.

Padmé was sitting up in the bed with a datapad, most likely reading the holobook on parenting that she’d downloaded for the trip.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” she said as she set the datapad down. “So same as always, really.”

Obi-Wan sat on the bed, facing her, and noticed that she’d taken her makeup off. Without it, she looked even more exhausted, but she was no less beautiful. He wasn’t sure why he was stopping himself from reaching out to her. “Will you be alright going back to the Senate Office Building?”

“I doubt anyone will try to kill me, Obi-Wan.”

He wasn’t going to bring up the fact that she did still have enemies, and they probably didn’t care that she had resigned. “I meant will you be alright going back there when you no longer have a place in politics.”

“Oh.” Looking away from him, she said quietly, “It will be strange, but I have to get over it. Going there will be like ripping a bacta patch off.” When her eyes locked onto his, he knew she was about to ask him something he wouldn’t like. “What about you?”

“What _about_ me?”

“Will you be alright going back to the Temple when you don’t belong there anymore?”

Obi-Wan didn’t know how to articulate how he felt about returning to the Temple. While he knew the Order had been going in a downward spiral, and he was painfully aware that certain Jedi teachings were damaging, it had still been his life. The Jedi had been a family to him, and the Temple had been the only home he’d known. But Obi-Wan hated what the Order had done to Anakin, what _he_ had done to Anakin, and in some ways, he hated what the Order had done to himself. He wondered what kind of person he would have become if he’d grown up with his blood relatives instead, if he’d never learned how to use the Force.

“I’ll be fine.” Even though it was a blatant lie, it was all he could say. She gave him a skeptical look, but he changed the subject before she could call him out on it. He didn’t have the energy for such a conversation. “I won’t let the Council take Anakin.”

Padmé took his hand and kissed the back of it, her lips leaving behind a slight tingling sensation. He still wasn’t used to her casual affection. “Don’t let them take you either.”

“I don’t believe they have any interest in imprisoning me or Ahsoka.”

“Just promise me you’ll be careful.”

“I always am.”

She rolled her eyes, and he couldn’t help but smile a little.

When they came out of hyperspace, Padmé left a message on Mace’s comlink to say that the three of them were going to be paying the Council a visit. Whether Mace would tell Yoda or not, Obi-Wan had no idea. He wasn’t even sure which scenario would work in their favor.

Before they went their separate ways at the spaceport, Anakin moved to give Padmé a hug, but she stopped him. “I refuse to act like this is the last time I’ll see you or that we’ll even be apart for more than a few hours. Good luck, all of you.” And with that, she walked off with Dormé.

Anakin’s shoulders slumped as he looked at the ground. Obi-Wan understood where Padmé was coming from, but Anakin’s dejection was like a punch to the chest.

“It’s probably one of those pregnancy mood swings,” Ahsoka said as she walked up to Anakin’s side.

“Yeah, probably,” he mumbled before he straightened up. “Let’s go.”

\------

It took all of Padmé’s willpower not to run back and throw her arms around Anakin because she knew she would lose it if she so much as touched him. Padmé was trying so hard to be hopeful for a good outcome, but there were so many ways it could go wrong. At least she was quite sure he wouldn’t end up dead.

“They’ll be alright,” Dormé said confidently.

Padmé appreciated her optimism.

When Bail greeted her in his office, it was with a kiss on both cheeks and a tight hug. She had let him know she was coming to Coruscant before they left Naboo, and he’d seemed very excited about her visit.

He gestured for her to sit down. “I have so much to tell you, I’m not sure if you’ve been keeping up with the news, you look lovely, by the way.”

Padmé laughed. “How much caf have you drank?”

“Oh, just enough to keep me awake.”

It was a little over a week before the election, so he had to be stressed, but he was leading in all the polls. After he updated her on what wasn’t covered in the news, talking so quickly that she had to concentrate to understand him, he took a deep breath and asked, “How have you been doing? This is the longest you’ve been away from politics, isn’t it?”

“It is,” she confirmed with a sigh. “I’ve been . . . Well, I’ve come to realize that I need to start seeing a counselor.”

He nodded. “With everything that happened in your future and then trying to fix it all, I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. That was a lot of responsibility to put on your shoulders.”

“I did share it, though. I knew there was no way I could fix it on my own.”

“And I’m glad you did,” he said, giving her a warm smile. “How are you otherwise? The pregnancy is going well?”

She put her hands on her stomach. “Yes, the babies are doing fine.”

His eyebrows shot up as he leaned forward. “Babies, as in plural?”

Padmé forgot he didn’t know. He was so busy with the election that she didn’t want to bother him. “I’m having twins.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Then he lowered his voice. “Breha and I are thinking about adopting, but if I win the election, we’ll hold off until my term is up.”

With the amount of time Anakin and Obi-Wan had been away from her during the war, she could understand how difficult it would be for them, not seeing each other very often, and bringing a child into that wouldn’t be right. “Why not make the new capital Alderaan?” Bail had proposed a rotating capital that would change every 20 years.

He waved his hand back and forth, shaking his head. “I don’t want the capital to be another Core world. Plus, it would take more than five years to set it up the first time, and I don’t plan on running for reelection. I just want to get the Republic on the right track.”

“You have a poi—” Padmé felt something odd in the Force. It wasn’t a warning, but it gave her a sense of distress. They must have entered the Temple.

“Are you alright?” Bail asked quickly. “Do you need anything?”

Dormé came rushing over from the corner she’d been standing in.

“I’m fine,” Padmé said quietly. “I’m just worried about them.”

Dormé, knowing she was Force-sensitive, seemed to understand what was happening.

Bail knew why she was on Coruscant, so his expression turned grim. “What do you think the Council will do?”

“I don’t know,” she said miserably.

\------

Anakin looked at the stairs that led to the entrance of the Temple and swallowed hard. Dread crept up his spine at the thought of setting foot in there again, but he wasn’t sure why it hadn’t hit him until now. Anakin couldn’t sense anything but determination from Obi-Wan, and that provided some amount of comfort because if he wasn’t too worried, then they should be okay. Obi-Wan rested a hand on the small of Anakin’s back before he began climbing the stairs.

“C’mon,” Ahsoka said. “You’ll be walking down those steps with us no matter what happens.”

“Or running,” he said with a frown.

She shrugged and jogged to catch up to Obi-Wan. “Either way, you’re coming back with us!”

Anakin took his time. As much as he wanted to get it over with, he couldn’t force himself to move at the speed Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were going. He wished they had just summoned the Council to Naboo. Anakin hated the place that had been his home for 12 years. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to think of Padmé’s apartment as his new home because he always had to return to the Temple. There were so many bad memories attached to it, and learning just how abusive Jedi culture really was tainted his entire experience with the Order. The only bright spots were Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, but there were bad memories associated with Obi-Wan, too.

His legs were beginning to feel heavier with each step, and the distance between him and his friends only grew as the minutes ticked by. It was even getting hard to breathe at a normal rate. _I can’t do this._ Anakin fell forward as he desperately tried to control his breathing, tried to ignore the way his heart felt like it was about to burst with the force of its pounding. Then Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were on either side of him. While Obi-Wan sent him ineffective waves of peace through their bond, Ahsoka just kept saying that everything was going to be fine.

Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder. “Take a deep breath and hold it for as long as you can.” _Just as you’d done with Padmé, remember?_

Anakin did as he was told and repeated it a few times before he felt like he could stand without getting dizzy.

“We should all walk up together,” Ahsoka suggested, a bit rattled.

Obi-Wan agreed.

Thankfully, no one else was around to have witnessed that, whatever it was.

Walking up the stairs with both of them kept the dread at a manageable level, but once they reached the top, all Anakin wanted to do was run back down. He hated feeling so weak.

Obi-Wan stepped in front of him. “We will not let the Council lock you up, Anakin. I will die fighting them to protect you.”

Anakin blinked at him. He knew Obi-Wan would take his side against the Council, but hearing him put it that way eased some of the tightness in his chest. “And you call _me_ dramatic.”

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka smiled at him a bit as they visibly relaxed.

Upon entering the Temple, they were immediately surrounded by guards, but at least their weapons weren’t activated.

“So Mace said something after all,” Obi-Wan muttered.

The guards escorted them to the Council Chamber, and small crowds gathered as they walked through the halls of the Temple. Anakin paid them no mind. He was used to the attention, especially negative attention, but the air around them was mostly filled with curiosity rather than with scorn or distrust, which threw him off a bit.

_It will be alright, dear one._

He glanced at Obi-Wan, and the man was staring straight ahead, his face expressionless. Anakin wanted to reach out to him, but he decided to try to center himself instead. Gradually, the dread left him and was replaced with a determination that matched Obi-Wan’s. He was going to end this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To make up for the cliffhanger, I’ll try to get the next chapter up sooner than two weeks. I do have most of it written already, so that wouldn’t be impossible.


	31. Chapter 31

_You know that I don’t actually want you to die for me, right?_ Anakin sent once the turbolift was in sight. _I couldn’t bear a life without you._

 _You would still have Padmé_ , Obi-Wan sent back.

_But I need both of you._

_You would survive just fine, Anakin._

He frowned as the lift doors closed, the small jolt upwards making his stomach drop like he was nine years old again. _No, I wouldn’t. Why must you think so little of yourself?_

Obi-Wan met his gaze through his reflection. _I can ask the same about you._

Not liking where the conversation was going, Anakin looked away and tried to maintain the level of peace that was always difficult for him to hold onto. The fact that he could achieve it at all when he was about to walk into a room full of people who had wanted to imprison him until he died was amazing to Anakin. He was sure that having Ahsoka and Obi-Wan there with him helped quite a bit.

Ahsoka flinched when the doors opened, and that made him realize just how nervous she actually was. He could only feel a slight turbulence in the Force around her, so she had gotten much better at being able to mask her emotions without needing to use her shields. Anakin was impressed, but he was also touched that she was so worried about what would happen to him. He always managed to be surprised by how much his favorite people cared about him.

Once they walked into the middle of the anteroom, the guards parted, and the doors to the Council Chamber loomed ahead of them. “Skywalker is to enter alone,” one of the guards boomed.

Obi-Wan stepped forward, shielding Anakin with his own body. “Absolutely not.”

When a guard grabbed Anakin’s upper arm, fire erupted along their bond. “You will not touch him,” Obi-Wan hissed as he shoved them away.

Anakin couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Obi-Wan so angry. For that anger to push its way out because he wanted to protect Anakin made his breath catch in his throat. That fiercely emotional response was for _him_. But Anakin didn’t want the situation to escalate any further. He nearly latched onto Obi-Wan and told him to abandon the plan, to just leave the Temple and hope for the best, but he knew this couldn’t be avoided any longer, and it was too late to turn back anyway.

Ahsoka’s hands were actually hovering over her lightsabers as her eyes darted around the room. There were eight guards, but they wouldn't stand a chance against the three of them. Even though it was difficult to fight someone wielding a lightsaber without an equal weapon, Anakin could still use the Force.

The guards’ sabers shot to life, and Obi-Wan’s saber flew into his hand, but he didn’t ignite it. Ahsoka grabbed her own lightsabers as she got into a defensive position, her fingers on the ignite buttons. If they activated their sabers, all hell would break loose. Obi-Wan exhaled slowly, a deadly calm settling over him that Anakin instantly recognized. One wrong move from the guards, and Obi-Wan would strike.

This was too much.

“Obi-Wan, stop.” Anakin put his hand on Obi-Wan’s wrist and gently pushed his outstretched arm downward. “You, too, Ahsoka. It’s not worth it.”

Obi-Wan huffed in annoyance. “You _are_ worth it, Anakin.”

Anakin didn’t have the chance to respond to that because the doors to the Council Chamber opened, and Windu stepped out, bringing with him a coolness that doused the fire Anakin had still felt from Obi-Wan. He then nodded at the guards, who turned off their sabers and stood at attention. “All three of you can enter,” Windu said as he glanced at where Anakin was still touching Obi-Wan.

Anakin’s hold tightened before he let go, sending relief and gratitude through their bond. He wondered if that had been some kind of test, and if so, did that mean he passed? He didn’t think there were security holocameras in the anteroom, but he couldn’t look around without being obvious about it. Instead, he followed Windu into the Council Chamber and made sure Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were behind him.

Once he was in the center of the circle, he looked at the solemn faces staring back at him and took a deep breath. Taking a step toward Yoda, he stated calmly, “I am formally submitting my resignation from the Jedi Order. I’m not a darksider. All I want is to live in peace with my family.” Resigning meant handing in one’s lightsaber, but he had no idea where it was. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter.

Yoda’s face was blank, but he was always hard to read, and the Force wasn’t giving Anakin any clues. He refused to look away from Yoda’s stare, willing the old Jedi Master to understand that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, that he just wanted to be a good father and husband who didn’t always have to look over his shoulder. Anakin knew his future would be decided in this single moment, and he hated that his life was still in someone else’s hands.

Finally, Yoda nodded once. “May the Force be with you.”

The Council looked at him in shock.

Anakin didn’t say anything at first. He almost thought it was a trick, but what would be the point in that? If it was, the Council obviously wasn’t in on it. Looking at Windu, Anakin saw the barest hint of a smile, which was a little frightening. Anakin decided to put his trust in what the Force was telling him, so he bowed. “Thank you, Master Yoda.”

Then he turned to his friends, who were looking at him with wide eyes. None of them actually thought it would be that easy. As planned, both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka took their lightsabers from their belts and set them on the ground in front of Yoda.

“May the Force be with you,” Yoda said again while frowning slightly at Obi-Wan.

The chamber was silent as they walked out, but it wasn’t suffocating like when he and Obi-Wan had revealed their relationship to the Council. Once they were in the anteroom, he saw the glint of a holocamera above the turbolift. Perhaps Yoda had still been unsure, but when he saw that _Anakin_ was the one who tried to keep the situation from turning violent, he realized that his fear about him was unfounded. And it was fear. Yoda would deny it, but he was afraid of what Anakin might do to not only the Order but to the galaxy. Anakin just couldn’t believe it was really over. He almost ran back in to clarify that they no longer wanted to lock him up. But he knew there was no way Yoda would let him leave the Temple if he still viewed him as a threat, not without a fight at least.

_My life is finally my own._

Barriss caught up to them when they made it to the main corridor, and she gave a quick bow to Anakin and Obi-Wan, probably out of habit, before she turned to Ahsoka. “I assume it went well?”

“It did. We formally resigned.”

“So Master Yoda will accept change?” Barriss asked desperately.

Ahsoka gave her a small smile. “I don’t know, but it looks promising.”

Then Anakin noticed a group of Padawans a few meters away, and when Barriss turned around and raised her hand, their faces broke out into smiles. The group came over to them, and Anakin realized that they weren’t wary of him at all. He had no idea what had been said about him after he killed Palpatine, but considering he wasn’t that well-liked to begin with, he wouldn’t have been surprised if it wasn’t anything good. The way some of them greeted Ahsoka made him think they were her friends, and they started bombarding her with questions. Had she really left the Order? What was she going to do now? Wasn’t she terrified?

Others were slowly crowding around them, but only curiosity and hope were flowing through the Force. The Temple felt like a completely different place since he had last been there. It was almost a bit chaotic. Even with the Jedi fighting in a war for two years, the Temple had maintained its air of serenity, like everyone who fought on the battlefield was able to leave their worries at the door. Then again, that was what they were supposed to do as Jedi, release their emotions into the Force. Anakin had sometimes felt like the only one who’d been changed by the war.

All of a sudden, the crowd parted, and Windu walked up to them. “Master Yoda has finally agreed that something needs to be done about the state of the Order. He’s willing to listen to the ideas or opinions of anyone who comes to him, and a council will be set up to figure out how we should move forward.” He held up a hand, quieting the whispers. “Before anyone asks, this council will be made up of Padawans, Knights, and Masters in equal numbers.”

“How will they be chosen?” Anakin asked, impressed that they had thought of that much.

“We were thinking at random would be best.”

Barriss shook her head. “Nothing is truly random with the Force.”

“Well, we’re open to suggestions.”

Obi-Wan covered a laugh with a cough. The Council being open to suggestions wasn’t something any of them had expected to hear. “Thank you,” Obi-Wan said with a bow. “I’m sure you must have been the one to convince Master Yoda that the Order needs to follow a new path.” It seemed to be implied that he was also thanking him for convincing Yoda to give up on Anakin.

“The persistence of those who wanted change played a much bigger role,” Windu said as he looked around them.

“So they basically wore him down,” Ahsoka said.

Windu shrugged slightly.

Barriss sighed in relief, her shoulders sagging. “Those on the other side won’t be happy, but they are loyal to Master Yoda, so there shouldn’t be too much resistance.”

As chatter rose up around them, Obi-Wan turned to Windu once again. “How is your investigation on Kamino going?”

“We’re still trying to solve that mystery,” Windu said, crossing his arms, “but it definitely looks like Palpatine had his hands in it. I just wish the Kaminoans would be more cooperative.”

“We should go see our old troops,” Anakin said, not just because he really did want to see them, but also because he couldn’t wait to leave. Even with the knowledge that he wasn’t in any danger, the Temple was more like a cage to him than a former home.

Ahsoka stood beside him, apparently having saying goodbye to her friends. “Yeah, I’d like to see how Rex and the guys are doing.”

Just as they were about to walk away, Anakin bowed to Windu. “I hope the Order can find the balance that it needs. May the Force be with you.”

Shockingly, Windu bowed back. “And with you, Anakin.”

He couldn’t help but smile a little.

Once they were outside the Temple, Ahsoka let out a gust of air as if she had been holding her breath. “That was so nerve-wracking! Obi-Wan, you really weren’t kidding about dying for him.”

Obi-Wan shrugged, his head tilted upward to look at the clear sky above them. “I wasn’t about to let Anakin out of my sight when we weren’t sure if they were still planning on locking him up.” Then he looked at Anakin and took his hand in his own. “Now you are truly free.”

Anakin smiled at him and laced their fingers together. Words couldn’t adequately describe what he was feeling, so he sent his emotions through their bond, which caused Obi-Wan’s eyes to widen for a moment before he smiled back and gave Anakin’s hand a light squeeze. Then Anakin pulled Ahsoka into a sideways hug. She’d been ready to fight for him just as Obi-Wan had been, and he was so grateful to have her in his life.

Walking down the Temple stairs felt like closure to Anakin, and he would much prefer to never have to return, even decades later. After they reached the bottom, he took out his comlink to let Padmé know how it went and that they’d meet up with her after visiting the barracks. Anakin hadn’t been able to say goodbye when he left Coruscant, and he wanted to make sure his men didn’t think he’d abandoned them.

At the barracks, they found that most of the 501st and 212th had decided to remain in the military. Happy faces surrounded them, so Rex and Cody, having been spoken to by Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, must have spread the news as to why they’d left so suddenly. Still, Anakin felt the need to apologize.

“We don’t blame you for leaving, sir,” Dogma said, standing at ease. “We’re just glad that we’re no longer being used as puppets in a fabricated war.”

“To be fair, the Separatists did have some good points,” Ahsoka said, “but Palpatine secretly pushed for an intergalactic war rather than have negotiations.”

The clones raised their eyebrows at her.

“What? I don’t agree with everything they were fighting for, but the Republic really does have a lot of problems.”

Anakin had looked through the treaty, and even he could understand why many of the former Separatist worlds were unhappy with the Republic. It would take a special kind of leader to bring the two sides together, and Padmé felt that Senator Organa was their best option. He didn’t really know Organa, but he seemed to be a decent person who wanted what was best for the galaxy. He was certainly more desirable than the others who were running for Chancellor.

While Ahsoka was talking with Fives and Echo, and Obi-Wan was catching up with Cody, Anakin went off to find Rex. He’d only been to the barracks a few times, so he wasn’t sure where to even look. In the end, he had to ask those he came across if they knew where Rex was, and it turned out he was in the gym. Oddly enough, he was alone.

Anakin waited until his former captain had gotten off the equipment he was on, not wanting to distract him. “Hey, Rex.”

Rex blinked at him in shock before he quickly wiped his face with a towel and walked over to him. “You’re back.”

“I am, but I’m returning to Naboo after this. I just wanted to apologize for leaving you and the rest of the 501st.”

Rex shook his head. “There’s no need to apologize. You had to leave. I still can’t believe the Jedi Council was going to do that to you.”

Not wanting to get into the details, Anakin shrugged. He’d rather put the whole thing behind him, but he knew he’d have to come back to it once he got to that point with his counselor. At her request, Anakin was mostly going in chronological order, so at least he had a while. “Why did you stay with the army?” Although Anakin was pretty sure he already knew the answer, he wanted to ask anyway.

“It’s all I know, General.”

“I can understand that to some extent. I’d spent most of my life with the Order, and it’s hard trying to figure out what to do with my time.” He smiled a bit as he leaned back against the wall. “And you can call me ‘Anakin’ now.”

Rex frowned at him, but he didn’t comment on the correction. “Knowing I have the option to leave is enough. Please thank Senator Amidala for me. I only recently heard that she’d helped Senator Organa craft the bill.”

“Sure.” With a tilt of his head, he asked, “Out of curiosity, did you know about me and Padmé beforehand?”

“I knew after the first time I saw you two interact with each other. No offense, sir, but you’re terrible at subtlety.”

Anakin wasn’t even surprised. He was just glad Rex had kept it to himself. “I’m going to be a father,” he said, grinning. “Padmé’s having twins.”

That clearly caught him off guard. Grinning himself, Rex congratulated him. “You’re going to make a fine father.”

He still had his doubts, but he was trying to work passed them. “Thank you, Rex.”

“And General Kenobi?”

Anakin didn’t think Ahsoka told him about their three-way relationship, so he was probably wondering where Obi-Wan fit when kids were involved. “He’s going to be a father, too. We’re all together.”

The way his eyebrows slowly climbed his forehead almost made Anakin laugh. “ _T_ _hat_ I hadn’t figured out, but I never really saw him with the Senator. Now you and General Kenobi, that I was sure about. Cody said I was reading into things too much, and that’s why he lost the bet.”

“There was a bet about me and Obi-Wan?” He really thought at least their relationship had been a well-kept secret. Of course, everyone knew they were close—they were “The Team”—but Obi-Wan had been very careful about not changing how they interacted in public.

Rex took a step back, his hands held up defensively. “It was only between Cody and I. We meant no disrespect, sir.”

Anakin pushed himself off the wall and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. How much did you bet?”

“Twenty ration bars.”

Smiling, Anakin crossed his arms. “That’s all? Clearly, you weren’t so confident, or you would have bet more.”

Rex chuckled, his posture relaxed again. “We had to be somewhat realistic about it.”

“I hope you’re getting paid now.”

“We are, but by the time we’re looked at as regular people by the general public, we’ll be at death’s door.”

Anakin let his arms drop to his sides. He wanted to tell Rex he was wrong, but he wasn’t. People would probably always see them as beings on a level only slightly higher than droids. “I’m sorry, Rex. I understood what kind of situation you were all in, that none of you had any level of freedom. I’d been in that situation myself before I joined the Order.” That made Rex’s eyebrows twitch upward slightly. “But I . . . I didn’t know how to help.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You always treated us well, and trust me, we took notice of that.”

Anakin still didn’t feel any better about it, but he knew Rex was being sincere. He walked up to Rex and clapped him on the shoulder. “I wish you the best. Force knows you and all the rest of the guys deserve it.”

“Thank you, General. You as well.”

Anakin almost corrected him again, but he realized it wasn’t worth it. It reminded him of how long it took for him to get out of the habit of calling Obi-Wan “Master.” Even though Anakin saw it as a term of endearment more than anything else by the point, he understood why it made Obi-Wan uncomfortable. But it still slipped out every now and then. The last time it did, a wave of shame came off of Obi-Wan, catching Anakin by surprise. He didn’t question it, though, and just acted like it hadn’t happened. It wasn’t like Obi-Wan would have been willing to talk about it.

They all stayed at the barracks for a little while longer before they headed back to the spaceport, where Padmé and Dormé were waiting for them on the ship.

Anakin pulled her into a hug, the one she had denied him earlier. “It’s really over,” he said, his voice muffled by her hair.

When he let go of her, Padmé held his face in her hands. “I’m so happy it all worked out.”

Anakin could finally have the life he always wanted. He would be a husband and a father, and someday, he would free his people. No one would ever put him in chains again.

\------

\------

Ahsoka was wrong.

Anakin didn’t cry throughout the wedding ceremony, but he was crying now that it was over.

The ceremony itself had been short and simple. Padmé had decided that there was to be one ceremony instead of three because it didn’t matter that only one marriage would be legal. They were all equals, so they would treat their marriages as being equal. The three of them had stood in circle, holding each other’s hands, and the smile Anakin had given his lovers could have powered a small town. The officiator talked about devotion and a promise to love one another into the next life, which Ahsoka wasn’t sure was a reference to an afterlife or reincarnation, before saying something in a language she didn’t recognize. Then it ended with three kisses.

Anakin was currently hiding his face in Obi-Wan’s shoulder while he tried to compose himself, and the handmaidens went to congratulate Padmé after giving Anakin a pat on the back, their smiles directed at Obi-Wan. Padmé’s parents, who had been a little distant before the ceremony, had relaxed and were hugging Padmé. Ahsoka knew it wasn’t easy for them to accept their daughter’s relationships, but it looked like that was finally resolved. After Anakin wiped his eyes again, Shmi gave him a hug.

When Obi-Wan backed up to give them space, Ahsoka took the opportunity to walk over to him. She still thought that he’d only agreed to the marriages to make them happy because whenever the subject came up in the last two weeks, he seemed rather uninterested in talking about it.

“So . . . you’re a married man now.”

“Not legally.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “You better stop that. How do you think they’ll feel if you point that out every time?”

Suddenly, anger radiated from him through the Force. “How do you think _I_ feel that I’ll always be treated as an outsider in my relationships with them and our children?” And the anger was gone as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on him. In its place was his calm indifference that Ahsoka had gotten used to whenever they were in the Temple between missions. “I apologize for the outburst.”

Ahsoka didn’t know what to say, but she glanced at Anakin and Padmé to see if they’d noticed. Although Anakin was frowning slightly in their direction, and Padmé had raised an eyebrow curiously, neither of them came over to see what had gotten Obi-Wan upset. Maybe it was best to just pretend that it hadn’t happened and let them deal with it later. “Obi-Wan, are you happy?” she asked in a near whisper.

He looked down at her with a slight smile, and it was a relief to see the old Obi-Wan slip away. “I am. Are you?”

“Yeah.” She’d been content in the Temple before the war broke out. Ahsoka hadn’t even realized how unhappy she was for the past two years until she truly had the chance to sit down and think about what her life had become. She didn’t regret leaving with Anakin and Obi-Wan that night, and she never would. “It took a while to get here, but it was worth it.”

Obi-Wan looked at Jobal and Ruwee giving Anakin somewhat awkward hugs while Padmé was talking with Shmi and Sola, and his smile widened. “Yes, it was.”

Just as the sun was setting, her and Shmi said their goodbyes. Ahsoka was leaving for Onderon and taking Shmi back to Tatooine on the way. She’d been gone long enough, and she wanted to give the newlyweds some privacy. Even the handmaidens had made plans to visit their families for a couple of days. Anakin didn’t give her the bone-crushing hug she gotten the last time she left him, which she counted as progress. He knew what his place was in Ahsoka’s life. Anakin would always be her family, her nirruno, and that meant they wouldn’t stay out of contact for very long. When it came to saying goodbye to Obi-Wan, she let him get away with just bowing to her.

“Let me know how it goes with Steela,” Padmé whispered when they embraced.

“Sure thing,” Ahsoka replied, ignoring the look of blatant curiosity on Anakin’s face.

The trip to Tatooine was pleasant since Shmi was a very easy person to talk to. Ahsoka learned a bit more about what kind of kid Anakin had been before the Jedi came into the picture, and she told Shmi what she’d learned about Togrutan culture. Shmi almost seemed proud of her for trying to reconnect with her roots.

A few days later, Ahsoka was back on Onderon, standing in front of the apartment building that she hoped she could continue to make memories in.

Steela walked up the road to stand beside her while carrying a bag of what looked to be fresh vegetables. She must have been at the local market. “Welcome back,” she said as she bumped their shoulders together.

“I missed you,” Ahsoka blurted out, mentally slapping herself. Before Steela could reply to that, Ahsoka said quickly, “When you have the time, I’d like to talk.”

A hand on her hip, Steela frowned a little. “I have time now.”

 _Force, this is_ not _how I rehearsed this in my head._ Ahsoka bit her lip and decided to just get it out there. “Would you like to be in a relationship with me?”

Steela looked at her with wide eyes for what felt like an eternity, but then she grinned. “I thought we were already in one, Ahsoka. C’mon, Saw got some fish that he’s going to fry up for lunch.”

Ahsoka huffed out a laugh, realizing she’d been nervous about nothing, and followed Steela inside. Once they were about to enter the apartment, Ahsoka gave her a kiss on the cheek, but Steela put her bag down and reached for Ahsoka to give her a proper kiss. If Saw opened the door right then, Ahsoka wouldn’t even care because nothing could ruin this moment.

_I’m home._

\------

\------

Padmé screamed again, and Obi-Wan projected serenity through the Force, which didn’t seem to be doing much good. On the other side of the bed, Anakin winced and slammed his shields up, grabbing her hand with his cybernetic one. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if he’d put his shields in place to block her out or to keep her from feeling his own mess of emotions. Padmé’s midwife gave her more encouragement as Obi-Wan smoothed her hair back from her sweaty face and let her grab his hand, which she squeezed with a strength he didn’t know she had. A med droid that was ready to intervene if necessary was hovering nearby, occasionally emitting soothing sounds that Obi-Wan didn’t think were helping.

“It’s okay,” Anakin said weakly. “You’re doing great.”

Obi-Wan really hoped Anakin wasn’t going to pass out.

Finally, the cry of a baby was heard, and after a moment, Tess wrapped the child in a blanket and showed it to them. Padmé smiled through her exhaustion, words clearly beyond her, and Obi-Wan could only stare at the tiny bundle in amazement. Soon enough, another med droid pushed a tiny hover-cart toward them, and Tess gently laid the baby down before it was taken into the adjacent room.

Then it was time for the next baby. Obi-Wan was afraid that Padmé didn’t have the energy to do it all again, so he concentrated and transferred some of his own energy into her through the Force. Padmé gave him a questioning look before she let out a strangled cry. Anakin wasn’t faring so well, his distress obvious even with his shields up. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure if that was making it more difficult for Padmé, but him not being there might be even worse. While he couldn’t leave Anakin alone if he was banished into the hallway, he couldn’t leave Padmé either. _Calm down,_ he berated himself. _This isn’t helping her._

Soon, he was able to stop worrying because the second baby was born. Padmé sagged against the bed and smiled again when Tess showed them the much louder child. Obi-Wan already knew they weren’t going to be getting much sleep for months, but the lungs on that one made him wilt a little.

As the child was also taken away to be cleaned and examined, Obi-Wan was briefly overcome with his love for Padmé. Anakin was telling her how well she’d done and how much he loved her, but words had abandoned Obi-Wan. All he could do was hold onto Padmé’s hand as Tess checked her over.

Padmé was eventually moved into a recovery room, but Obi-Wan still hadn’t been able to utter a word. Anakin had gone silent due to the shock of what came after giving birth. Apparently, he’d skipped over that part of their research. Shmi joined them, and Obi-Wan was glad to have someone there who could communicate as though this were any regular day.

Then Tess brought the twins in, wrapped in new blankets and wearing matching hats. Anakin held Leia while Padmé took Luke.

“I’m so happy to finally meet you and your brother,” Anakin whispered, tears in his eyes. Obi-Wan could feel him projecting love toward Leia, who had stopped squirming and seemed to be rather content. Hopefully, it would always be that easy to calm her down when she started screaming.

“They’re perfect,” Padmé said, and after a few minutes went by, she turned to Obi-Wan. “Would you like to hold him?”

He nodded and carefully took the bundle into his arms. It was the moment Luke’s eyes met his that it truly felt real. He was a father now. That thought didn’t bring him any anxiety, though. Instead, it gave him purpose. Obi-Wan’s life as a Jedi was over, but that no longer mattered because he would always be a protector. He would just be doing it as a father and a husband, rather than as a Jedi Master.

Smiling, he gently brushed his finger over the back of Luke’s hand. “Welcome to our family, little one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter left! It will be an epilogue of sorts. I want to go into how they’re doing after years have passed.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! This ended up being a lot longer than I’d planned. It was just supposed to be a quick look at how everyone was doing and how the Order had changed, but it turned into this 13,000 word monster. Whoops.

_10 Years Later_

Padmé watched Anakin play with the twins out in the backyard through the patio door. It looked like one of his silly, made-up games that he swore would help them learn how to control their Force abilities. She knew Obi-Wan disagreed, but he kept his opinion to himself. Over the years, he’d gotten better at being less critical, something that both her and Anakin had been slightly worried about when it came to their children.

When Anakin started cheering, and Leia grinned up at him, Padmé let out a small sigh of relief. It was the fifth anniversary of the start of the slave revolt on Tatooine, and Padmé had noticed that with every passing year, Anakin became less and less somber on that day. Despite the fact that they won, there had been a lot of bloodshed in those first few weeks, and he’d taken the losses on their side hard.  They waited so long to strike because of the amount of planning that was involved. Obi-Wan had come up with a brilliant strategy to make Jabba a liability to the Hutts so that his death wouldn’t be met with anger. Padmé and Bail, who was finishing his term as Chancellor, had been able to convince the Senate to provide medical supplies and weapons, and quite a few clones from the 501st and 212th had volunteered their services. They acted as backup and trained those who wanted to fight because it was important to Anakin that the slaves be the ones who led the charge. That was why they didn’t ask the Senate for an army, which actually made them a bit more willing to help. The fighting had lasted about seven months, and neither Padmé nor Obi-Wan had resented Anakin for spending most of that time on Tatooine.

In the years since then, a number of slave revolts had sprung up across the galaxy, inspired by the success of Tatooine’s revolt. As soon as Anakin heard of them, he’d rushed off to help, but he only stayed long enough to give them whatever advice they needed to have a real chance at winning. Sometimes, they didn’t want his help at all. Even with being a former slave, he was still an outsider to their community.

The past year had been quiet. As much as Anakin and Obi-Wan used to hate the quiet, they’d grown to accept life as civilians. They were still able to do good through the central government, which called on them for help whenever there was a disaster, whether natural or human-made, somewhere on the planet. In addition to that, Anakin worked two days a week at a mechanic’s shop, and he had his own garage for building and tinkering next to their house. As for Obi-Wan, he sometimes worked as a mediator for the local government whenever they needed extra help.

Meanwhile, Padmé ran an organization that helped homeless people in various cities find jobs and housing. Homelessness had become a problem that was largely ignored, and that had stunned Padmé. The Nabooian government was known for its interest in helping people, but she supposed that some issues could slip through the cracks. She was ashamed at not having known about it while she had been Queen.

Even though it was based in Theed, she didn’t have to be there most of the time since Dormé helped her run it. After having dismissed her handmaidens, they chose to work at her organization instead. Padmé still felt so touched that they wanted to remain in her life, and she took them out for dinner and drinks once a month to reminisce and just have a good time. She even reconnected with Sabé not too long after the organization was set up, and it wasn’t awkward at all when she brought Sabé home to meet her family. Padmé had worried that Anakin would be just a little possessive, knowing that she used to have feelings for Sabé, but Obi-Wan had said Anakin hadn’t behaved that way with Satine, and that was before he started therapy. So Sabé was happily added to the growing list of aunts to Luke and Leia.

Obi-Wan came up behind Padmé and wrapped his arms around her waist. Together, they watched Anakin and the twins run around the yard, chasing a ball that appeared to have a mind of its own, before he placed a kiss on her cheek and walked back into the living area. After a moment, she followed him.

“Have you made up your mind yet about going to Coruscant?” she asked.

He nodded. “I’ll go, but I’d like to bring Luke and Leia with me. They’ve been asking about going to see the Temple after hearing so many stories about it over the years, and I feel they’re old enough now.”

“Maybe we could all take the trip.”

Obi-Wan frowned, a hand stroking his beard. “Anakin has refused to go inside the Temple for the past decade, but I suppose he can stay with you if there’s somewhere you want to go.”

“Except there’s no way he’ll let our children go to the Temple without him being there to hover over them.” Anakin could be a tad overprotective at times.

He smiled a little. “I’ll talk to him about it.”

Then there was a burst of noise as the twins came inside, Anakin following behind them. After they ran into the kitchen, Obi-Wan quietly asked Anakin if they could speak in the office. Padmé’s office was the only room their children weren’t allowed in. When Anakin looked at her, she made a shooing motion with her hand because, as former Jedi, this was between them.

Padmé went into the kitchen to see what their children were up to, and she found them sitting at the island, gulping down water. She doubted they’d washed their hands first, but before she could say anything about it, Luke asked, “Are you working tomorrow, Mom?”

“I have a few meetings to attend in Theed, and then I have an appointment with my counselor, so I’ll be back sometime late in the afternoon.”

Anakin had work in the morning, so it would just be Obi-Wan and the twins since they had off from school. Padmé still remembered the first time he was left alone with them. He’d been terrified. They had just turned two, and they could be quite a handful, but they usually listened to him. When she’d gotten home, Luke and Leia were curled up on either side of him on the couch, and all three of them were asleep. Padmé had managed to get a holopicture before they woke up, and the image had been up in the foyer ever since. Padmé insisted that the cutest holopictures be put up there so that they all had something to make them smile before they left the house and when they returned.

Luke nodded and took a piece of fruit from the bowl in the center of the island using the Force. Both him and Leia only used the Force “inappropriately” whenever Obi-Wan wasn’t around. She used to chide them for it, but then she decided it was just something left over from Obi-Wan’s training and didn’t actually matter outside of the Jedi Order. It wasn’t like they did it a lot anyway.

There was a knock on the front door, and Leia jumped off her stool. “I’ll get it!”

Luke quickly ran after his sister.

Padmé didn’t like either of them answering the door on their own in case it was an old enemy on the other side. Obi-Wan had told her that they were quite good at being able to sense danger, but she still worried.

It turned out to be Shmi. “I wanted to bring over some vegetables from the farm,” she said as she handed two bags over to Padmé.

“Thank you.” Padmé invited her in and after taking a peek inside one of the bags, she raised her eyebrows. “Oh, you’ve brought poritaas. I’ve heard that they’re incredibly difficult to grow.”

“They are, but the reward is worth it. Not only do they have a great taste, they also fetch a high price at the market. I should be able to hire a few more people for the next season because of them.”

“Do you still have the same eight farmhands?”

“I do, and I know they’d appreciate the help.”

Her workers were former slaves from Tatooine who had resettled on Naboo. Many didn’t want to stay after the revolt had ended, but a large handful had been born into slavery on Tatooine, so they had no real connections to their ancestral planets. The Nabooian government welcomed them with open arms and offered free counseling services. The Hutts wrote off Tatooine as more trouble than it was worth, so the people who decided to stay could live however they wished to. Owen and Beru helped those who wanted to try being moisture farmers, and a few kind-hearted merchants in Mos Espa helped those who wanted to get into trade. Once a year, Anakin and Shmi traveled to Tatooine to see how the freed people were doing, and Anakin would usually return home relieved and a little bit sad. Even the life of a freed person was difficult on that planet, especially with the amount of trauma they had to deal with.

“So what have you two been up to lately?” Shmi asked her grandchildren.

Luke and Leia happily told Shmi about the school bully Leia had recently put in their place. Thankfully, she hadn’t used the Force or resorted to violence like the last time she had an encounter with a bully. This time, Leia had basically shamed a 12-year-old into leaving her classmate alone. They were all quite proud of her, especially Anakin. He’d told Padmé that Leia reminded him of how he was as a child on Tatooine, always wanting to help others, except she had more of a temper than he did at that age.

As Padmé put the vegetables in the kitchen, she wondered how Obi-Wan’s conversation with Anakin was going. She couldn’t feel anything, but her Force-sensitivity was roughly back to the level it had been at before her pregnancy, which she was fine with. She’d felt a little left out when Leia mentioned that she shared a Force bond with Luke that allowed them to send thoughts to each other, but at least Anakin and Obi-Wan had stopped communicating through their bond whenever they were around her once she’d finally told them it bothered her.

When her husbands finally came out, Anakin didn’t look annoyed, so it must have went well. After they greeted Shmi, both giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, he knelt down in front of Luke and Leia. “How do you feel about going to Coruscant to see the Jedi Temple?”

They gasped.

“Really? We’ll get to see where Papa grew up?” Leia asked.

Smiling widely, Luke started bouncing on the balls of his feet. “And we’ll get to see a whole ton of Jedi!”

The only Jedi they knew were Mace, who visited once a year, and Quinlan, who stopped by every few months. They had initially been a little frightened of Mace, but when Anakin humorously explained that he was like a grumpy lothcat—in front of Mace, of course—they warmed up to him. As for Quinlan, they liked him immediately, especially since he told them embarrassing stories about Obi-Wan’s childhood.

“Why are you going to the Temple?” Shmi asked, a bit concerned.

“Yoda contacted me some days ago,” Obi-Wan said. “He needs my help with something and said it would be easier if I’m physically present.”

The Order had changed quite a bit in the last 10 years, but Padmé heard they were still struggling with getting new recruits. Becoming a Jedi was completely voluntary now, and even though families could stay in touch, people seemed to be wary about sending their children to the Temple. Padmé thought it was because parents were afraid their children would be forced to become soldiers if a war broke out, no matter that the likelihood of such a thing happening was slim. In the decade since the Republic became whole again, only a few extremist groups had challenged peace, but they hadn’t gotten very far. No one had the appetite for fighting another intergalactic war.

“I’ll be going, too,” Anakin said lightly before turning to Padmé. “You should come. If they say anything about it, we’ll just ignore them.”

“I don’t think the Order is as strict with non-members being in the Temple since families are allowed to visit,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin cocked his head to one side. “I’m surprised Yoda is still in charge, though. Shouldn’t he be dying soon?”

That startled a laugh out Leia.

Obi-Wan sighed. “You will need to be civil while we’re there.”

“You know I can be civil,” he said as he crossed his arms.

Anakin still held a grudge against Yoda, but it wasn’t so strong that Padmé worried about it. Obi-Wan felt he should let it go because it was the healthy thing to do. He’d confided in Padmé that he’d almost said “because it was the Jedi way” before he caught himself. Anakin found it too difficult to forgive Yoda since he put a lot of the blame for his poor treatment at the Temple on him. It didn’t help that Yoda had told Obi-Wan to ignore Anakin’s emotional distress throughout his apprenticeship.

“Well, I hope it works out,” Shmi said. “I should get going. I just wanted to drop off some vegetables on my way to the market.”

After she gave the twins quick hugs, Anakin walked her to the door.

“When are we going to Coruscant?” Luke asked, still bouncing a little.

Obi-Wan looked up at the ceiling. “When is the upcoming holiday week?”

“At the end of the month,” Padmé said. Naboo was big on holidays, and the province Dee’ja Peak was in had a few of its own on top of the ones celebrated by all Nabooians.

Luke pouted. “But that’s too far away! We can miss school and catch up real easy.”

Anakin, having rejoined them, smiled and ruffled Luke’s hair slightly.

Obi-Wan held his hands behind his back with a look on his face that meant there was no use in arguing. “You are not going to miss school.”

“Can we go into the undercity if we do well on our geology test?” Leia asked.

“Sure,” Anakin said.

Both Padmé and Obi-Wan turned on him. “Anakin!”

“What? Of course I’d go with them.”

“No,” Padmé said sternly.

He merely shrugged, and Leia didn’t look surprised by the rejection. They would have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she wouldn’t try to sneak off to the undercity, dragging Luke with her.

Then Obi-Wan glanced at the wall chrono. “Anakin, don’t you have an appointment in a few minutes?”

“Ah, kriff!”

The twins giggled. They always thought it was funny when their parents cursed, but they found it especially funny when Obi-Wan let loose, mostly because he rarely did so.

Padmé sighed. “Language.”

“Sorry!” Anakin said as he ran toward the meditation room.

He had his counseling sessions via holocomm unless he had to go to Theed for something else on the day of an appointment. Anakin spoke with her every other week, sometimes more if he was having a rough time.

Obi-Wan finally agreed to see a counselor about a year after the twins were born. He kept refusing because he reasoned that he did talk about some issues, so it wasn’t like he was falling back onto repression tactics all the time. Plus, he just didn’t think therapy worked for everyone. To him, releasing his emotions into the Force was good enough. It took about a year after he began seeing his counselor for him to admit out loud that he really had needed the help. Now he only saw them once a month, which was the same frequency that Padmé saw hers.

“Have you finished your history projects yet?” Padmé asked their children.

They took a little too long to say “yes,” and Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows expectantly. They could never get one passed him, but they still tried anyway.

“Okay, no, but I’m almost done,” Leia said.

Luke sighed. “I can finish mine today.”

Padmé turned them toward the staircase. They were smart kids, but they usually needed a little push to get their homework done. “Well, get to work then.”

After they’d gone up to their room, Obi-Wan put a hand on her arm and said, “I’m going to tend to the garden for a little while.”

“I can help,” she offered, to which he gave her an amused look. Padmé was terrible at gardening. She couldn’t even keep the most hardy plant alive, so the most she _could_ do was weed. Meanwhile, plants flourished under Obi-Wan’s care.

His counselor had suggested he find a hobby, and Anakin had jokingly told him he should try his hand at gardening. Anakin didn’t actually think he could do it, so the first plants were put into the ground only to prove a point. It was funny watching them have arguments about how many plants Obi-Wan would or wouldn’t kill. Most of their bickering didn’t have any real heat behind it anymore. Even Luke and Leia could tell it wasn’t anything serious. But along the way, Obi-Wan realized that he quite liked gardening, and now half of their massive backyard was a colorful jungle that acted as both a hideaway for the kids to play in and a source of calm energy for Obi-Wan.

Seeing him happily tend to his plants was one of the reasons why Padmé was glad that they moved to Dee’ja Peak, where there was enough open land to work on. They made the move when Luke and Leia were around two years old. Dee’ja Peak was a lot less stressful than Theed, which was where they had lived after moving out of Varykino when the twins were about to turn a year old. And it was better for the twins to be around people who wouldn’t judge their family. There was a brief period when the residents of Dee’ja Peak treated them like celebrities, especially Padmé, but once they all got used to seeing a former Naboo queen and the ex-Jedi who brought the Clone Wars to a screeching halt, the effect wore off.

When they first visited the quiet town, they found out about third guardian status. Someone who was a third guardian had the same rights as a parent if the parents were either dead or out of contact. Plus, they were told about legal loopholes when it came to certain marriage rights. All of that prompted Obi-Wan to apply for Nabooian citizenship, which he had originally not seen any point in getting when he thought the rights gained with citizenship were minimal and ultimately unimportant. Padmé wanted to lobby for better protection for triads and their children, but she was afraid of the attention that would bring to them. She decided to wait until Luke and Leia were older, when they could say whether they were alright with that or not.

Obi-Wan directed her to weeds that were beginning to suffocate the smaller flowers around them. “These particular weeds are hard to keep up with when there’s an abundance of rain,” he said as he handed her a towel.

She knelt on the towel, put some gloves on, and got to it. “How did your talk with Anakin go?”

“He has no issue with me going, but he was a little resistant to the idea of me bringing the children along. The only way I was able to convince him was to promise that they would have no contact with Yoda.”

“It’s better that they don’t. You know Anakin won’t leave their side, and if he was to see Yoda . . . ”

Obi-Wan hummed in agreement as he began pruning a nearby bush. “Anakin wouldn’t start a fight with him, not a physical one anyway, but I don’t want to risk putting him in a bad mental state. Just being inside the Temple will be a test, what with the numerous bad memories he associates with it.”

Talk of how the Jedi had treated Anakin always set her on edge, and Obi-Wan didn’t enjoy discussing it either, so they let the subject drop. He broke the silence a moment later, speaking in a tone that conveyed amazement and gratitude. “I never imagined I’d be where I am now.”

“In a beautiful garden with a beautiful woman, trying to get a bush to maintain its unnaturally round shape?”

He laughed, and it was a light and carefree sound. “I never imagined I would have a house with a family that I love more than anything else. A life outside of the Order was something I only thought about once when I’d fallen for Satine.” Obi-Wan smiled at her, and the warmth reached his eyes much quicker than when he’d been a Jedi. “I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

“I wouldn’t either,” she said quietly, returning his smile.

Padmé had her own adjusting to do, living outside of the political sphere, but in some ways, she was still a part of it. She wasn’t just trying to help those who were already in dire straits. She was also trying to get new laws passed so that people wouldn’t end up on the streets to begin with. The main difference was that she couldn’t put forth any bills herself. Instead, Padmé had to convince those who had that power to do so. She didn’t mind the change, and some politicians went to her for advice every now and then, so she hadn’t tarnished her reputation as much as she’d thought.

They grew quiet again, the snip of Obi-Wan’s clippers and a couple of nearby birds filling up the silence, and even though she was doing work, the atmosphere was peaceful enough to make her relax. Padmé understood why Obi-Wan got enjoyment out of gardening. She tried to find her own hobby, but she could never get interested in anything for longer than a few months. Padmé was busy enough with her organization and the kids, and if she really needed to take a moment to breathe, she would just meditate. At least that helped her more than it did Anakin, but he claimed that working on machines was his form of meditation.

“Hey, Angel,” Anakin said as he crouched down beside her.

She almost jumped. It hadn’t felt like they’d been out there for an hour. Between the nickname and his grin, he must have had a productive session.

“You have dirt on your face.”

Padmé shrugged.

Obi-Wan had gone inside the tunnel of moonbeam flowers a little while ago, and Anakin looked at its entrance with a more subdued smile. “Who would have thought that my joke would turn into all this?”

“Best joke you ever made.” She moved to kiss him but instead ran a dirt-covered finger down his nose. He laughed as he wiped the dirt off. “Will you really be alright going back?” Padmé was afraid that he’d backslide a little if he spent too much time there.

“I’ll be fine,” he said as he waved his hand dismissively. “That was so long ago. Besides, I talked about it with Dr. Koostana, and she said it would be good for me.”

“Dad! Aunt Soka is on the holocomm for you!” Luke shouted through the open patio.

“It’s been a while since I’ve heard from her,” Anakin said, more to himself. He gave her a peck on the lips before he got to his feet and headed back to the house.

Ahsoka and Steela spent a few months every year traveling the Mid and Outer Rim, searching for anyone who needed help. If there was a natural disaster, or any other event that required mass aid, they would contact the retired clones from the 501st and 212th. Padmé was glad that the two of them had stayed together. They finally got married after three years. Steela usually came along whenever Ahsoka visited, which she tried to do as often as she could, so she’d become part of the family even before they wed.

In some ways, Padmé was a little jealous of them for being able to travel the galaxy to help people. Padmé was still able to make a difference for people on Naboo, but it had been a secret dream of hers to do what they were doing. Maybe one day when the twins were adults, and Padmé felt comfortable passing her organization on to someone else, her and her husbands could find people to help throughout the galaxy. She didn’t think they would mind.

After Padmé finished up the weeding, she concentrated to see where Obi-Wan had gone off to. At least her Force sensitivity still allowed her to do that. When she found him, he was checking up on a plant that hadn’t been doing so well lately, but it seemed to be back in good health. It was an anniversary present from Bail, so she knew Obi-Wan would have been upset if it had died, even though he’d never admit it.

“We should go eat lunch,” Padmé said.

He nodded, and she linked her arm with his as they walked through the tunnel. She almost pulled him down for a kiss, but the memory of poor Luke finding her and Anakin getting a bit lost in each other in that very place a month ago made her decide against it. The twins had a complicated relationship with the tunnel of moonbeam flowers. They loved it because they liked to pretend that it transported them to another world. The garden on the other side was a little more exotic, and the blossoms glowed when they opened at night, so it played well into their make-believe adventures. But after what Luke had witnessed, which could have been a lot worse if Padmé was the type to have outdoor sex, the magical aspect seemed to have been ruined a little.

When they were inside the house, she heard Anakin laughing, and Luke and Leia were playing a hologame in the living area. Padmé asked them if they finished their projects, and they said “yes” in unison, keeping their eyes on the game. She didn’t need to confirm with Obi-Wan that they were telling the truth.

“Ahsoka and Steela are going to meet up with us on Coruscant,” Anakin said as he walked in.

Leia looked up from their game, excitement shining in her eyes. Ahsoka was her favorite aunt. “It’ll be like a family vacation, except Papa has to do work.”

Obi-Wan shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“When are we eating?” Luke asked as he shut the game down. “I’m starving!”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Obi-Wan said gently. “Just say you’re hungry.”

He rolled his eyes. “Okay, so when are we having lunch? I’m hungry.”

While Padmé never really saw the point in making such little corrections, it wasn’t as though Obi-Wan was ever mean about it, so she usually let it go. Anakin had told her that Obi-Wan had done something similar to him in the first few years of his apprenticeship, but he was a bit harsh, which made Anakin feel like Obi-Wan was constantly annoyed with him. Luckily, Obi-Wan must have realized that approach wasn’t good for a child, and it helped that he’d mellowed out quite a bit after he began speaking with his counselor.

Her parenting style was similar to Obi-Wan’s, so they were usually in agreement with each other about most issues. Anakin was the most laidback out of the three of them, which was fine since having one parent who was on the goofier side was good for them at that age. With the guidance she received from her parents and from Sola, Padmé felt like she actually knew what she was doing, and once the twins had reached the age where they could talk, it’d gotten a lot easier. She only felt truly hopeless a few times, but Sola had assured her that was completely normal. Between her counselor’s help and her husbands’ insistence that she was a great mother, Padmé was able to work through it.

They were all doing their best, and it seemed to be working because Luke and Leia were great kids. It would be an entirely different story once they hit puberty, but there was still time before that storm was over their heads.

\------

“And that’s how I saved your papa for the seventh time,” Anakin said, basking under his children’s rapt attention. Leia had claimed they were too old for bedtime stories when they’d turned eight, but Luke loved them, and Anakin knew she did, too. She was just trying to act all grown up. “Okay, time to go to sleep.” Leia went over to her own bed as Luke got under the covers, and once he was comfortable, Anakin kissed him goodnight. Then he did the same to Leia.

“Why are your stories usually from the war?” she asked before he could leave her bedside.

Obi-Wan told them stories of when he himself had been a Padawan, some of which were even new to Anakin. Although there wasn’t a lot from his Padawan days that Anakin wanted to relive, he had told them a few stories of his later years as a Jedi apprentice. He preferred to talk about the war, but with a humorous slant. Ten-year-olds didn’t need to know how brutal it actually was. Padmé didn’t think talking about the war as if it had almost been fun was appropriate, so he made sure she was never around when he told those stories.

At his silence, she continued, “You don’t really talk about your life in the Jedi Temple. Is it because you weren’t happy?”

Anakin was surprised she’d picked up on that, but she _was_ rather insightful for her age. “My life in the Temple was rough,” he admitted quietly. “That’s part of the reason why I talk to a counselor.”

“Because of how the Jedi used to be.”

While it wasn’t a question, he decided to treat it as one. “Yes, but that was many years ago. Goodnight, you two.”

“Goodnight,” they said as he closed their door.

Anakin used to think it was a little strange whenever they said something in unison, but now he thought it was cute. Well, it could also be annoying. His eye twitched when they whined together.

Going downstairs, he saw that Padmé was reading on the couch, so he lied down and put his head in her lap. Being used to such behavior from him, she ran her fingers through his hair without needing to be prompted. He’d had it cut short once some years ago, but he missed the feeling of fingers combing through his curls. Plus, he hadn’t realized just how much he liked having his hair pulled during sex. Obi-Wan thought those were silly reasons to leave it long, but Anakin reminded him how ridiculous he looked with long hair and claimed he was just jealous. Both Anakin and Padmé agreed it was a tragic look for Obi-Wan that should never be revisited.

Once Anakin started humming in contentment, Obi-Wan came into the room, unfazed by the sight before him. He sat next to Padmé a bit heavily.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing. I just contacted Yoda to let him know we’d be coming in a few weeks. It will be strange, being back in the Temple after so long. I’m not sure how much help I’ll even be. They should be asking young people for their opinions, not some old man who’d resigned 10 years ago.”

Anakin reached above his head and gave Obi-Wan’s knee a squeeze. “If you can’t help, then tell them who they should turn to. And you won’t reach true ‘old man’ status until you’re 60, so you have a ways to go.”

Padmé laughed. “Anakin’s right, on both points.”

Obi-Wan sighed, but Anakin could feel his amusement through their bond.

Anakin had worried—still worried, if he was having a particularly bad day—that Obi-Wan would come to regret his decision of choosing them over the Order. Obi-Wan had certainly struggled to find his place in life. Ironically, his anxiety lessened a bit after the twins were born, but he’d confessed later on that it was because the infants had given him purpose.

“You shouldn’t worry so much,” Padmé said. “The fact that Yoda still values your opinion means they haven’t turned their backs on you for leaving.”

“Oh, I already know they don’t look at my resignation in a bad light, but Mace had told me they wished I’d stayed just to help with the reforms. Really, I thought they would have liked to hear Anakin’s opinion since he’s probably their harshest critic.”

Anakin barked out a laugh. “Yoda would never admit to wanting my opinion on anything.”

“Judging by the changes that you’re aware of, are you pleased with the state of the Order?”

Obi-Wan sounded genuinely curious, like he had no idea what Anakin’s view on the subject was, which he wouldn’t since Anakin didn’t have one. He’d purposefully stayed away from any news related to the Order, and everyone had learned not to talk about it in his presence. Anakin wanted to say that he didn’t care what progress they’d made, but that would be a lie. He wanted the Order to be better for the sake of the kids who were in its care.

“I’d rather withhold my judgment until I’m actually in the Temple,” he said eventually.

Padmé had stopped playing with his hair when their husband sat down, and he wished she’d go back to it. But then he felt Obi-Wan’s calloused fingers on his jaw, and his head was tilted back until their eyes could meet. Obi-Wan smiled down at him while Padmé lightly scratched his scalp. All that attention was making Anakin feel a bit dazed, and he couldn’t help the small moan that escaped his lips when she gave his hair a quick tug. Obi-Wan and Padmé looked at each other as if they were communicating through a Force bond, and he bit his bottom lip when he realized what that meant. But it was too early. The twins needed to be in a deep sleep to not get woken up, mostly because he had too much trouble keeping his shields in place during sex.

“I can shield you,” Obi-Wan said quietly, his thumb stroking along his jawline.

And he knew what _that_ meant. The feeling of being the center of their world, even for just a moment, was intoxicating. They would do that every so often, have one of them be the focus for the night. It helped to keep them balanced.

Overall, they were very careful when it came to sex because of their children. Even if Luke and Leia had been asleep for hours, they tried to be quiet and keep their shields up. Only once did they forget to lock the door, and Anakin thanked the Force that Leia was too young to understand what she saw. If they all happened to be home at the same time while the kids were at school, which was sadly rare, they would go a little wild. Anakin still smiled when he thought about the last time that happened, and Luke had commented on Obi-Wan’s rumpled clothes. Since they’d cut it too close, he didn’t have the time to fix his appearance, and Anakin liked to pull Obi-Wan’s hair when he took him from behind, so he really looked like a wreck. At Luke’s innocent remark, Obi-Wan had turned the loveliest shade of red and remained silent. Leia, being more perceptive than her brother, had scrunched up her face and let out a long “ew.” Normally, Anakin would be embarrassed by such a situation, but Obi-Wan hiding his face in his hands as he turned even redder was enough of a distraction that Anakin could only laugh. Padmé had tried to hold in her own laughter as she patted Obi-Wan on the back.

After they coaxed a third release out of Anakin, he stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch his breath. His mind was blissfully quiet, as it always was after being their sole focus for hours, or at least it felt like hours. Obi-Wan cleaned him up while pressing kisses onto his shoulder and along his collarbone, his touch both gentle and grounding. The shielding that Obi-Wan had built up around him slowly fell away, but Anakin wanted him to put it back because its warmth made him feel safe and adored.

“You did so well,” Padmé whispered into his ear.

Anakin smiled at the praise. He loved them so much that he thought his heart would burst, but he was too far gone for words, so he projected his emotions through the Force, just enough for his spouses to feel them so as not to bother Luke and Leia.

Closing her eyes, Padmé touched her forehead to his. “We love you, too, Ani.”

\------

\------

“Oh, c’mon, Luke. We’ve seen enough sappy stuff,” Leia groaned.

“But I love seeing how happy they are.”

They were watching footage on Artoo to pass the time during hyperspace travel and had gotten to the wedding. Luke won out, so Leia watched as though she wanted to roll her eyes every five seconds. She would give in to her brother more often than not, so Obi-Wan wasn’t sure why she bothered complaining, unless she was hoping Luke would take pity on her.

Obi-Wan had been happy during the ceremony only because his lovers had been. Having not grown up with the concept of marriage, he hadn’t really cared about being married. Once Shmi was settled on Naboo, she told him that marriage existed among slaves on Tatooine and explained the ceremony, which he felt had much more depth of meaning than the one performed by the Naboo. He learned quite a bit about Tatooine slave culture from her since Anakin didn’t like to talk about it. Padmé had hoped he would open up to them about the culture of his childhood, but Obi-Wan supposed talking about it with his counselor was enough for Anakin.

Despite the marriage not being legal, what rights Obi-Wan did have were enough, and living in Dee’ja Peak meant that he was treated as their equal in both his relationships with them and his role as a parent. He was always treated as an equal by Anakin and Padmé themselves, and he had to admit that after the first few months of being called their husband, he was glad he’d agreed to the symbolic marriage. Obi-Wan didn’t even mind how extra affectionate Anakin was with both of them during that time.

“Dad’s the only person I know who cries when he’s happy,” Leia said when the ceremony had ended.

Luke frowned. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I didn’t say there was.” She turned to Obi-Wan and asked, “Have you ever cried, Papa?”

“Of course I have.” But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d done so because he was prone to shutting down when other people would normally cry. It seemed no amount of therapy was able to fix that. “I’m just more reserved with my emotions than your father is.”

“I’ve never seen Mom cry,” Luke pointed out, “but I feel her sadness sometimes.”

Obi-Wan would have to mention to her that she needed to strengthen her shielding. Apparently, they were getting better at being able to sense emotions. “We try not to do that in front of you because we don’t want to upset you.”

Leia shrugged. “We’d be fine. It’s not like it’s weird.”

“It’s a little different when it’s your parent who’s doing the crying.” Or so he was told. He’d never experienced such a thing.

The twins looked at each other, but Obi-Wan didn’t think they were talking through their bond. Then they went back to Artoo and told him to play the funny clips he had. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but laugh along with them. He even chuckled at the ones where he was the subject. While he’d thought it was strange at the time, now he was glad that Anakin had told Artoo to record them.

Anakin walked in from the cockpit and sat next to him. “We’ll arrive in another 11 hours,” he said quietly. Then he took Obi-Wan’s hand in his as he watched their children laugh at their younger selves.

For whatever reason, Anakin wasn’t wearing his glove, and since his updated cybernetic arm had more sensory input, Obi-Wan brought it up to his lips and kissed the back of his hand. A wave of joy passed through their bond. Even though displays of affection from him weren’t as rare as they used to be, Anakin would still light up as if he never expected Obi-Wan to behave in such a way.

“You don’t have to come,” Obi-Wan reminded him.

“I’ll be fine.” Anakin looked at him as he tapped the side of his head. “I’m in a much better place now. And while you’re taking care of whatever business they called you there for, I’ll have the kids to keep me busy.” Leaning in, he whispered, “I’m curious what their reactions will be. I doubt they realize how enormous the Temple actually is.”

“Hey!” Leia shouted. “No being gross when we’re in the room!”

Anakin smiled as he sat back. “We’re only holding hands.”

Leia narrowed her eyes at him before she announced that they were going to get a snack and marched away, a confused Luke in tow. Artoo let out a few whistles and beeps as he followed them.

Anakin just kept smiling.

“I miss the days when they were oblivious about sex,” Obi-Wan said. “Now Leia thinks we’re about to tear each other’s clothes off just because we’re holding hands.”

Laughing, Anakin gave Obi-Wan’s hand a squeeze before he let go. “Well, at least we didn’t have to be the ones to tell them.”

Padmé had taken it upon herself to give their children “the talk” since she was the only one who never got embarrassed about the topic. She refused to be because she claimed that would imply there was something shameful about what they did with each other. Obi-Wan thought it was a nice sentiment, but he and Anakin would always be awkward about it with the twins.

Anakin rested his head on Obi-Wan’s shoulder with a sigh. “I’ve changed a lot since I’ve last been at the Temple.”

“I have as well.” Understanding that Anakin still needed to hear it, even after so many years had passed, he said, “And I will never regret leaving the Order.”

Anakin lifted his head and gave Obi-Wan that almost shy smile he loved so much.

But the moment didn’t last because Padmé walked in looking very unimpressed. “I just caught our children eating sweets when they should be going to bed.”

“Whoops,” Anakin said to himself.

Obi-Wan stroked his beard as he leaned back in his seat. “So that’s why I’m beginning to feel tired.” He hadn’t been keeping track of the time back on Dee’ja Peak.

After they managed to get the twins into bed, Padmé suggested they also turn in. Her and Obi-Wan got dressed in their sleep clothes while Anakin checked the cockpit for his own peace of mind. Ever since their children were old enough to walk into their bedroom, Padmé began wearing less revealing, and what Obi-Wan thought looked to be more comfortable, sleep clothing. If she’d had a bad day, she would steal one of Obi-Wan’s shirts, claiming it helped her sleep better. He suspected she would steal Anakin’s as well if he actually wore a shirt to bed.

“Do you want the middle?” she asked with a yawn.

Obi-Wan nodded. He still preferred to sleep on the outside, but he could admit to himself that he sometimes wanted the attention.

They had just gotten under the covers when Anakin entered the room. He promptly shed all clothing but his underwear before he joined them and pressed himself up against Obi-Wan’s back, an arm slung over his waist, as Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan in the dim light, her hand covering his own. It didn’t take him long at all to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

\------

After eating lunch at Dex’s—Ahsoka promised him she’d tell Obi-Wan to visit—her and Steela waited at the bottom of the Temple stairs for Anakin and the others to arrive. Ahsoka hadn’t been to the Temple in almost a year, and the only reason she ever came back was to visit Barriss and Master Plo. Steela had come with her the last time, and she’d jokingly said she’d punt Yoda across the hall when Ahsoka pointed him out. With everything Ahsoka had told her about the old Jedi Order, Steela was firmly in the anti-Yoda camp.

It still amazing Ahsoka how busy Coruscant was with it not being the capital anymore. Eriadu was the Republic’s new capital. Apparently, there had been some talk about moving the main Jedi Temple to Eriadu as well, but considering their ties to the Senate had been a major problem, they opted to stay on Coruscant. They were no longer at the Senate’s beck and call. Representatives from planets would go directly to the Jedi to ask for help if either the Senate was unable, or unwilling, to do so. There’d been many complaints, with people saying that the Jedi needed to answer to a higher authority, not to something so vague as “the Republic.” But the Order had always been in a murky area when it came to the legal system. In the end, it was decided that if a Jedi did something that was against the law on the planet they’d been sent to, they could be tried by the local courts. Barriss had told her that the Council wasn’t happy about it, but it was the only way to get their most vocal critics off their backs.

Ahsoka was happy with the changes the Order had made over the years. The Jedi were peacekeepers once again, and they were actually trying to tackle issues they’d ignored prior to the reforms. Knowing they didn’t take infants anymore was a relief to her. In fact, the minimum age for a child joining the Order was 10, and while Ahsoka thought it should be higher, it was a decent start. The only circumstances where the Order accepted Force-sensitive children younger than that were if they were orphaned or abandoned and had no one to take them in. The attachment part of the Code had been removed. While Jedi still couldn’t get married, remaining in contact with their kin was actually encourage, and in addition to allowing families to visit the Temple, an Initiate or Padawan could take three weeks out of the year to visit their family on their homeworld.

Despite all that, Ahsoka was still glad that she’d left the Order, especially since it eventually led her back to Steela. When the nightmares had become too much, she finally sought out her own counselor. She was barely getting any sleep, and Steela was both worried for her health and annoyed with her terrible moods. Group therapy was quite common, so she’d joined a group for former child soldiers, many of the members being refugees from other worlds. The fact that such a group even existed was sad to her. She still had the occasional nightmare, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle.

“When was the last time Obi-Wan and Anakin were at the Temple?” Steela asked.

“A little over 10 years ago.”

“Why so long?”

Ahsoka shrugged. “There wasn’t a reason for them to return. Anakin isn’t particularly fond of the place anyway.”

Steela nodded. She didn’t know Anakin’s history, but she knew he hated what the Order had been. “It’ll be nice to see the twins again.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka said with a grin. Since they didn’t have their own kids, they usually spoiled Luke and Leia whenever they visited. Luke even claimed once that they were more fun than Anakin, which amused her to no end, but she told him to never tell Anakin that. She knew it would genuinely upset him, that he’d feel like he wasn’t a good father. “Where do you want to go after this?”

“Let’s go back home and take it easy for a little while,” Steela said with a smile.

“Sounds good to me.” When she gave Steela a kiss, she heard a gasp off to her left.

“Not you, too!”

Ahsoka turned and laughed at the horrified expression on Leia’s face. “What, have you been catching your parents smooching a lot?”

Steela chuckled beside her. “One day, you’ll find someone you like and want to kiss.”

“Never!” Everyone laughed at that, causing Leia to cross her arms in a huff. “Who says I have to kiss anyone?” she muttered.

After they got their greetings out of the way, Luke looked up at the stairs with a frown. “Walking up to the Temple will take _forever_.” When Obi-Wan let out a single cough, Luke sighed. “It’ll take a _really_ long time.”

“I prefer to walk,” Anakin said.

Ahsoka shared a look with Obi-Wan. Maybe Anakin wanted to prove to himself that the Temple really didn’t hold any power over him, and to walk up those stairs without having a panic attack, which she now knew was what he’d had the last time, would do just that.

“How about the three of us walk,” Ahsoka said as she gestured to herself, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, “and the rest of you take a speeder?” Everyone agreed, and when it was just them, Ahsoka turned to her former master. “Are you alright?”

He looked at her in obvious confusion and said he was fine before he began climbing the stairs. It didn’t seem like he was lying, but Obi-Wan still looked a bit concerned.

Refusing to make the same mistake twice, her and Obi-Wan matched Anakin’s unhurried pace. It felt strange to be walking up to the Temple with them again. So much had changed in the past 10 years, and Ahsoka was proud of the progress they’d all made. She knew they would never completely get passed their issues because therapy wasn’t a cure, but they were happy, and that was all that mattered.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious that Yoda wouldn’t tell Obi-Wan what they need his help with?” Anakin asked her after a few minutes went by.

Ahsoka shrugged. “Maybe it’s just easier to explain in person.”

“But what if it’s some kind of trap?”

“I seriously doubt that,” Obi-Wan said, sounding as though this wasn’t the first time it’d been brought up.

Anakin would probably always be a little paranoid when it came to the Order. He’d been convinced that they were going to try to take Luke and Leia when they were infants, even though Master Windu had already told him they wouldn’t. Of course, the twins could just decide to join the Order on their own. Leia probably wouldn’t since she didn’t really care much about the Jedi. All she wanted to learn was how to use the Force. Luke, on the other hand, was fascinated by the Jedi, so she could see him wanting to join. Luke had asked her once what the Order was like now, so he knew that it wasn’t much like the Order from his fathers’ stories. There was no way Anakin would allow Luke to become a Jedi, though. As far as what Obi-Wan and Padmé would think about it, Ahsoka wasn’t so sure.

After another moment of silence passed, Anakin said, “I miss my lightsaber.”

“Which one? You had many, after all,” Obi-Wan said, making Ahsoka chuckle.

Anakin rolled his eyes. “I know you miss having a lightsaber, too.”

“I won’t deny that.”

It took Ahsoka about a year to stop reaching for the sabers that weren’t there. She thought about making new ones, but she decided it was best not to take the chance that word would get back to Yoda.

They chatted the rest of the way up, with Obi-Wan telling her about Anakin’s misadventure in a forest last month and Ahsoka telling them about a recent encounter she had with Hondo. She still hadn’t forgiven the pirate for trying to sell her into slavery during the war, so she wasn’t all that fond of him. When she had finally told Anakin about that, it was the first time she’d seen his old anger bubble up to the surface in years. At least he’d been able to calm himself down.

The others were waiting for them by the time they reached the top, and Luke looked as though he’d eaten an entire bag of sugar with the way he was bouncing around. “C’mon! Let’s go, let’s go!” He grabbed Obi-Wan’s hand and pulled him toward the entrance.

Ahsoka thought it was cute, but Anakin clearly didn’t think so. She wondered if he knew why Luke was so excited. That was a conversation she really hoped she wouldn’t be around for.

***

As they followed Luke and Obi-Wan, Padmé turned to Ahsoka and asked, “So when was the last time you were at the Temple?”

“Roughly a year ago.”

“I wanted to give Yoda a good kick,” Steela said, sticking her right leg out a little farther in emphasis as she walked.

“I will give you 1,000 credits if you do it,” Anakin said, completely straight-faced.

Padmé whacked him lightly on the shoulder as Leia giggled.

“What? I’m being serious.”

Steela smirked. “I might take you up on that offer if I see him.”

Padmé was careful to keep the look of disapproval on her face. She would never admit it out loud, but she’d pay someone to kick Yoda, too.

Looking ahead, Padmé saw that Obi-Wan had managed to get Luke to calm down a little, so instead of leading Obi-Wan, Luke was walking beside him. She had to smile at the fact that Obi-Wan was still holding his hand. She’d been a little worried that he would fall back into his old Jedi ways once they were inside the Temple. Suddenly, Leia ran up to Obi-Wan and took his other hand. All Obi-Wan did was glance at her before he swung his arms a little, causing their children to beam up at him and Padmé’s heart to swell.

“Anyone who knew Obi-Wan from before would think we’ve replaced him with a clone,” Ahsoka said as she nudged Anakin in his side.

That was when Padmé noticed the stares that were directed at their little group and at Obi-Wan and the twins. It would take too long for her to concentrate and get an idea of what emotions were swirling around them, so she looked at Anakin. He must have guessed what she was going to ask because he said they were just curious or surprised, nothing to be worried about.

As they walked farther along the main corridor, she felt a tiny pull that she’d learned was the Force trying to tell her something, so she turned her head and saw a shockingly familiar person in a blue uniform. Padmé broke off from their group and walked over to them. “Inspector?”

Fohaan looked at her with wide eyes before breaking out into a smile and giving her a small bow. “Senator Amidala, I never expected to see you here.”

Padmé returned her smile. “Likewise, but I haven’t been a senator for over a decade. Just Padmé is fine.”

“Then you may call me Jemuna.” She gestured to the young woman standing beside her. “Do you remember me telling you that I have a sister in the Jedi Order?” At Padmé’s nod, she continued, “I decided to reconnect with Sailee after I heard about the changes the Order had been making.”

They nodded to each other in greeting, but then Sailee looked over Padmé’s shoulder with her mouth agape, and Padmé turned to see Anakin walking over. She knew he’d been well-liked among the younglings, which Sailee still could have been by the time he left the Order. Padmé remembered that Jemuna had thought the girl hadn’t been sent into battle due to her age.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at Fohaan. “You’re the inspector who interrogated me.”

She was unfazed by his annoyance, but she must be used to such treatment due to her profession. “I am.”

“Ani, be nice. She was only doing her job.”

Then Sailee bowed to Anakin in a way she’d seen other Jedi do. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

That clearly threw him off, but even Padmé hadn’t been expecting that level of respect. “Anakin, this is Inspector Fohaan’s sister, Sailee, who had been raised within the Temple.” She felt it was necessary to make that distinction since not all Jedi her age would have been taken in as an infant.

“It was because of you that the war ended and the Order was reformed,” Sailee explained.

Anakin glanced at Padmé like he wasn’t sure he’d heard that right. “Um, well . . . yes, the war ended because Palpatine was dead, but I had nothing to do with the reforms.”

Sailee shook her head. “You were the spark that ignited the fire. By killing Palpatine, you had opened the eyes of the Order to the darkness that was right in front of them, and it wasn’t just in the form of a Sith Lord. It was in the hearts of the Council members as well.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The truth came out soon after the special council was created.”

His body went tense. “The truth?”

“Of what the Council had wanted to do to you,” she said as though it was obvious. “It would have been different if that decision had been reached after a trial was conducted. They even had evidence that you’d been manipulated by the Sith Lord for years, proving they had failed to protect you, yet they still wanted to condemn you to a fate worse than death.”

Obi-Wan had assumed that the Council would have cut off Anakin’s connection to the Force, and Padmé knew any Jedi would consider that to be worse than death. Looking behind her, she saw that Obi-Wan had handed the kids off to Ahsoka and Steela and was quickly making his way over to them. Anakin’s shields had gone up, so Obi-Wan was probably worried.

“Everyone knows about the holocron?” Anakin asked, a tinge of fear in his voice.

But Sailee frowned. “I didn’t know the evidence came from a holocron.”

Anakin was visibly relieved. Maybe he thought the Council hadn’t destroyed it after all.

Obi-Wan stood next to Anakin and gave him a look that Padmé knew meant he was communicating through their bond, but Anakin held up a hand, perhaps trying to quiet Obi-Wan.

Sailee’s eyebrows raised slightly at Obi-Wan’s sudden appearance. “The first thing the special council had agreed upon was to come up with a procedure of sorts for when a Jedi used the dark side but hadn’t fallen. The Order no longer follows the line of thinking that once a Jedi uses the dark side, their path will be forever tainted. It was actually through your history in the Order that some mistakes were realized.”

“How did this special council even have such knowledge?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Master Windu was on the council for the first three years. He acted as a liaison.”

Padmé wasn’t sure why Mace never told them that during one of his visits, but he never really talked about the Order. Maybe he thought they didn’t want to hear about it, or maybe he felt it wasn’t any of their business. But it was good to know that even after Mace had convinced Yoda to let Anakin go, he was still on Anakin’s side. The fact that younger Jedi viewed him as a hero was proof of that. Padmé couldn’t figure out what he thought of what Sailee was saying, though. For all his poor acting skills, he was adept at keeping a neutral expression when he really didn’t want someone to know what he was feeling.

It was best they moved on.

“Well, I’m glad that the Order has committed to improving itself, and I’m glad that you’re able to have a relationship with your sister, Jemuna.” Then she looked to Obi-Wan. “We should get going. You don’t want to keep Master Yoda waiting for too long.”

“Very true.” He bowed his head slightly to Jemuna and her sister and walked away.

“That was Master Kenobi, right? He’s one of the greatest Jedi who ever lived.”

That brought a smile out of Anakin, but he didn’t correct her to say that Obi-Wan was no longer a Jedi. “Yes, he is.” Then he also bowed his head and went to where the others were waiting.

“Take care, Jemuna,” Padmé said warmly. “And it was nice to meet you, Sailee.”

They echoed her farewells.

When she rejoined the group, she heard Luke ask Anakin if he was okay.

Still smiling a bit, Anakin put a hand on top of Luke’s head. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“Why don’t you take them to the Room of a Thousand Fountains?” Obi-Wan suggested. He was probably trying to send Anakin to a place where he could relax because he was clearly a little on edge.

“There’s nothing there they haven’t already seen on Naboo. They would much rather see the training hall, right?” He looked at Luke and Leia expectantly.

Luke enthusiastically agreed while Leia merely shrugged, but Padmé knew she was interested.

“I’m not sure you’ll be allowed in that area,” Obi-Wan said.

“It’s worth a shot.”

Artoo, who had been strangely quiet the whole time, let out a series of beeps.

Besides Luke, who was slowly learning binary, Anakin was still the only one who could understand Artoo. “Sure, go ahead, but I don’t know how many of them will still be here.”

Padmé guessed Artoo wanted to say hello to his old droid friends. Before she met Anakin, she never would have thought droids could even have friends.

After Anakin led the twins away, Ahsoka leaned toward Padmé and asked, “What happened? I haven’t felt him slam his shields up like that in a long time.”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Ahsoka chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before turning to Obi-Wan. “Would it be alright if I go with you?” Maybe Anakin had told her that he thought the whole thing might be a trap, and his odd behavior just now had made Ahsoka a bit nervous. Obi-Wan could handle himself just fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to have some backup.

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he said with a shrug. “He didn’t say it was a secret meeting.”

“Would that be okay with you?” she asked Steela.

“Yeah, me and Padmé will just swap embarrassing stories about you two.”

Padmé laughed as both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan let out resigned sighs.

\------

They got a few strange looks on the way to the training hall, but no one stopped them. The Jedi were a lot more lenient when it came to visitors than Anakin thought they’d be. When they reached the hall, a class was in session, and it brought back a flood of unwanted memories. Anakin pushed them aside and focused on the good memories, like the times he trained Ahsoka in hand-to-hand combat on the mats or the times when he and Obi-Wan had playful lightsaber duels that always managed to draw a crowd.

Bringing himself back into the present, he watched the Nautolan battlemaster, whom he didn’t recognize. Her tone was much gentler than that of the battlemasters he remembered from his childhood. And he was stunned that the class was being taught basics when they all looked so old.

Luke and Leia were watching silently, their expressions not giving away what they were thinking. He and Obi-Wan had decided not to teach them lightsaber skills until they were older and only if they actually wanted to learn. The twins had seen them practice countless times, but watching a class of children who looked to be just a few years older than them must have meant something a little different, like the skills were more attainable.

Soon, the class ended, and Anakin was about to herd his children away when the battlemaster called out to them.

“I see we have some visitors.”

Anakin cringed. “I apologize for intruding.”

“Nonsense. We welcome family members to observe lightsaber training as it’s an integral part of becoming a Jedi.”

“Because your lightsaber is your life?” he said as he crossed his arms. Anakin just couldn’t help himself.

The battlemaster’s eyes widened, as if that was a scandalous thing to say. “That is no longer taught.”

Luke tugged on Anakin’s shirt. “You should show them your moves, Dad.”

“Ah, you are of the old Order then?”

Anakin wished they could have left without being noticed, but both of his children were looking at him hopefully. He wanted to make them proud, so he walked into the room and confirmed the battlemaster’s suspicion.

“I am Nula. Class, please stand to the side.”

He knew he should introduce himself, too, but he was afraid his name would be recognized. Anakin still didn’t know how he felt about what the inspector’s sister had told him. It seemed like he wasn’t a pariah anymore, but what did that matter to him now? It didn’t change the past. At least any other kid who was different probably wouldn’t be treated the same way he had been.

Nula gestured to the rack of training sabers, and he used the Force to take one. “I haven't used a saber in a long time,” he warned. He and Obi-Wan practiced with swords he’d built, with the blades being made of the lightest plastoid available and the hilts being about the same weight as their old lightsabers. It was better than nothing. Neither of them wanted their skills to atrophy.

After they bowed to each other, Anakin quickly realized he was going to have to concentrate more than usual. He hadn’t gone blade to blade with anyone but his husband for 10 years, and that hadn’t helped. They both knew each other’s moves too well, so going up against someone who was completely unpredictable was throwing him off. Anakin wished he’d taken Quinlan up on his offers for a duel. After a few close calls—he was thankful they were using training sabers—he started going on the offensive, and by the time their match was over, there were a lot more people in the room than when they’d started.

Nula accepted defeat with a bow. “You aren’t that out of practice, Master Skywalker.”

There were several gasps at the revelation, following by murmuring. Anakin wasn’t surprised that she knew. She had to have been in the Order before the war ended since one needed many years of experience to become a battlemaster, so she either knew him by face or by Force signature. He’d dropped his shields when they began since it was considered to be rude to have them up during a match.

“No one calls me that anymore,” he said as he returned her bow. “It’s just Anakin.”

Then it hit him, the disbelief and admiration coming from their audience, and he didn’t know what to do with any of it. But before he could become overwhelmed, Luke and Leia ran over to him, both of them grinning and projecting what felt like “that’s our Dad, he’s the best.” Anakin smiled down at them as he thanked Nula for the match.

A corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. “I’m sure I made my students jealous, which is very un-Jedi-like behavior.”

So some things remained the same. When Anakin glanced at the students, they all looked to the floor guiltily.

He left the training hall with a final bow, his children mimicking him. As they walked back through the corridors, Luke wouldn’t stop talking about how great Anakin had been and that he’d always wanted to see him and Obi-Wan wield lightsabers. Anakin let him go on uninterrupted while he tried to wrap his mind around the fact that the new Jedi were growing up thinking of him as some kind of hero. Although he certainly didn’t feel like one, he supposed it didn’t bother him.

At his sigh, Leia shushed her brother. “Are you okay, Dad?”

“I am.” Judging by her expression, she likely saw right through him, but she kept her mouth shut. “Let’s go find your mother. I think I’ve had enough excitement for today.”

\------

Obi-Wan was grateful to finally reach an area where there were fewer people around. He hadn’t put his shields up upon entering the Temple so that he could discretely monitor Anakin’s emotions, and Anakin was doing fine until he started talking to that Jedi. Obi-Wan would have to sit down with him later to find out what had actually happened. But because Obi-Wan had kept himself open to the Force, everyone knew he’d had extensive training. A trained Force-sensitive person felt very different from one who had received little or no training, so even those who hadn’t known him from before his resignation had stared, their curiosity broadcasted so loudly that he could feel a headache coming on.

He’d briefly thought about keeping his distance from Luke once he noticed the stares, but all that would do was hurt Luke. When Leia ran up to join them, Obi-Wan found that he really didn’t care how much attention they were attracting. His children were excited to be there, though Leia was far better at hiding it than her brother, so he wasn’t about to let his own issues get in the way. Anakin had sent a thought to him, saying how adorable they looked together, and Obi-Wan could only smile.

“So how are the kids doing?” Ahsoka asked once they entered a turbolift.

He pressed the button for the floor that held the Masters’ quarters. Yoda hadn’t told him where they were to meet, but Obi-Wan reached out into the Force, and the closer they got to his presence, he realized Yoda wanted to have a private meeting in his quarters.

“They’re a bit tiring, but they’re fine,” he said casually.

Obi-Wan had taken to parenting surprisingly well, but he still had his moments of doubt. Ever since one particular day when Ahsoka had been visiting, she would ask him how the kids were as a way of asking how he was faring as a parent. Obi-Wan still felt shame when he thought of that day, but Ahsoka never judged him for it, which he felt was far more than he deserved since he knew he’d been overly critical of her during the war. That was the first thing his counselor had him work on, so he didn’t think he was that way with his children at least.

“You know they’re going to try to convince Anakin to use a lightsaber while they’re at the training hall,” she said, smiling.

Obi-Wan huffed out a laugh and nodded. The twins had only ever seen Quin’s lightsaber since Mace refused to show off, and Obi-Wan knew they were curious what a lightsaber duel looked like as opposed to the duels he and Anakin had with their practice swords.

When they finally reached Yoda’s quarters, the old Jedi Master wasn’t even surprised to see Ahsoka. He simply ushered them in and offered some tea, which they both accepted. It was decent tea, but Obi-Wan had become spoiled by the variety and quality that could be found on Naboo. Whenever he was in Theed, he always went to the market to pick up more tea, some of his favorites and at least one new flavor. Anakin made fun of him for it every time.

“So what do you need help with?” Obi-Wan asked after a little too much time had went by in silence. Yoda shook his head, probably thinking that Obi-Wan lacked patience, but between helping to raise twins for the past 10 years and having been around Anakin for 22 years, he had more patience than a dozen Jedi Masters combined. But he kept that to himself.

“Trouble with attracting new Force-sensitive children, we’ve been having. Keep the Order afloat for the next few decades, this will not, let alone the next century.”

Obi-Wan had a feeling that was the reason.

“Different tactics, we have tried, but many families aren’t willing to let their children go. Perhaps a message, you could record. One for those who are fearful of the Order. What had happened in the past . . . ” He paused for a moment and sighed, ears drooping. “Happen again, it will not.”

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka glanced at each other. Was Yoda wishing for a return to the past, or was he mourning the losses they suffered during the war? Considering Yoda didn’t believe in mourning for the dead for longer than a few seconds, Obi-Wan put his money on the former. Setting his cup down on the small table in front of them, he said, “I’m not sure why anyone would care what I have to say. I was only well-known within the Order, not among the general public. Most don’t even know of my role in Palpatine’s death.”

“Explain your background, you should. Say you left years ago and are happy with the changes that have been made. A difference, it might make.”

Ahsoka shrugged. “It can’t hurt to try, and I can say something, too.”

Yoda accepted her offer. “Maybe Skywalker—”

“Anakin will absolutely refuse to help you in any way,” Obi-Wan quickly said. “Even with 10 years of therapy, he still won’t forgive you for how he was treated during his time as a Jedi.”

Yoda remained quiet, and Obi-Wan was under no illusions that he would apologize. Mace had told him that Yoda only had the most basic understanding of why there needed to be change. In truth, Yoda still felt that the old ways were best, which was why his leadership role was more symbolic than anything at that point, even within the Council. Mace was the true Master of the Order.

“I do want the Order to succeed, and I feel that it’s on the right path, so I will help you.” They were planning on staying on Coruscant for a few days anyway, so he had time to think of what he could say to ease worried families’ minds. Standing, he said, “Ahsoka and I will return to record our messages. Thank you for the tea, Master Yoda.”

“Stayed with the Order, do you wish you had?” Yoda asked just as they reached the door. “A great Jedi, you were.”

Obi-Wan smiled a bit sadly and shook his head. “I was just a man who had been raised from infancy to want nothing but one thing. Now, I am free.” It felt good to say that out loud to someone other than his counselor.

They walked out before he could reply.

Obi-Wan felt pride through the Force, but Ahsoka didn’t comment on what he’d just said. She understood him well enough to know that it was better to let him be the one to bring up personal topics. “Do you know what we should say?” Despite pretending she wasn’t proud of him, she was still smiling at him in a way that he knew she was holding herself back from giving him a hug.

To show his appreciation for Ahsoka’s restraint, Obi-Wan clasped her shoulder. “I have no idea, but we’ll come up with something.”

\------

Padmé and Steela were sitting outside on a bench, catching up and laughing about a run-in Ahsoka had with Lux. While Mina was still Padmé’s friend, she had no warm feelings for her son.

Luke and Leia ran up to them, both gushing about how great Anakin was with a lightsaber. She looked up at her husband when he stood beside her, but all he did was shrug. Soon, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka joined them as well. Padmé wasn’t expecting all of them to come back that quickly.

“We’re going to help bring in new people to the Order,” Obi-Wan said.

Anakin frowned. “Does that mean we have to stay on Coruscant longer than three days?”

“All Yoda asked for was a recording, so we’ll return home when we planned to.”

“We just need to convince families that the Order isn’t a danger to their loved ones,” Ahsoka said.

His frown deepened. “And you believe it isn’t?”

Ahsoka looked like she was preparing for a fight. Her view of the Order was very different from Anakin’s. The few times Padmé saw them talk about it, they had exchanged harsh words that led them to having a quiet conversation in the garden later on. “I do,” Ahsoka said confidently.

But before Anakin could launch into a rant about the Order, the twins abruptly started running toward the ledge.

“I got ‘em!” Ahsoka shouted as she ran after them.

“Was that a Force thing?” Steela asked.

Padmé shrugged. “Probably.” Despite being Force-sensitive, she usually couldn’t feel what the rest of her family could, and she wasn’t very good at verbalizing what she could detect through the Force. Padmé had long since decided to just treat it as a different kind of intuition. She always trusted whatever her gut was telling her, and the Force really wasn’t too dissimilar from that feeling.

It turned out that Luke and Leia had sensed a mock fight going on down below, and they wanted to watch. After Steela joined them out of curiosity, Obi-Wan walked up to Anakin and put his hand on Anakin’s upper arm, but it didn’t look like he was talking to him through their bond. Anakin remained silent as he closed his eyes and took a step forward to rest his forehead against Obi-Wan’s.

 _Yes, it’s time to go_ , Padmé thought. “Alright, you two,” she said to their children. “We should head over to the hotel.”

The twins were disappointed, but Obi-Wan promised he would show them around the city afterward, and that perked them back up.

“Dex would like it if you stopped by,” Ahsoka said, and Obi-Wan smiled instantly.

“That would be a great place to eat.” Then he turned to Luke and Leia and said, “You can meet an old friend of mine.”

As they made their way back out, Anakin and Obi-Wan having a quiet conversation behind them, Luke tugged on Padmé’s dress. “Mom,” he nearly whispered, “do you think Dad would be angry if I said I wanna be a Jedi?”

Anakin would be furious, but not at Luke. He’d say the Order would treat their son horribly because he was a Skywalker. Then again, it seemed that the Jedi didn’t view Anakin in the way they had before he resigned, so maybe Luke would be treated the same as any other Initiate. Padmé would consider it after she checked out exactly what changes had been made in the last decade, but Luke would definitely have to wait until he was older. Obi-Wan would probably be fine with it. Since he was going to help the Jedi recruit more people, he obviously felt that the Order was going in the right direction.

Keeping her expression neutral, she said, “We’ll talk about it when we get home.”

Artoo was waiting for them at the entrance, and judging by Anakin’s reaction to whatever Artoo said, his friends were no longer at the Temple. She almost felt a little sad for him.

“We’re fine with taking the stairs down,” Steela said once they were outside. “Going up is one thing, but going down is easy.”

As they all said their goodbyes, Obi-Wan told Ahsoka that he’d comm her that night so they could start brainstorming. Padmé had a feeling she’d have to practically force Obi-Wan into bed so that he could at least try to get on Galactic City’s time. She had no idea what sleep cycle Ahsoka was on.

Obi-Wan and the kids got into their rented speeder, with Artoo using his rocket boosters to settle himself into the droid seat in the back, and Padmé was about to get into the passenger seat when she noticed that Anakin was staring up at the Temple. She wished she knew what was on his mind. The three of them would have to talk later, not just about what happened in the Temple but also about the possibility of Luke joining the Order.

“Let’s go, Ani,” she called out.

He smiled at her and got into the driver’s seat, giving her a peck on the cheek that had the twins groaning.

“Really?” Obi-Wan said. “ _That_ was too much?”

Padmé laughed, and Anakin’s smile grew wider.

Whatever was to happen in their future, it would never be anywhere close to the horror that could have been. Her family was safe and happy, and she was thankful every day for what she had, for the second chance that she’d been given.

Leaning back in her seat as the speeder took off, Padmé closed her eyes and reached out into the Force, finding comfort in Anakin’s bright presence next to her. How that wonderful light could ever be dragged into darkness, she still didn’t know. Padmé sighed when she felt Obi-Wan wrap her up in a soothing warmth, and with the background noise of their children talking and laughing, she was at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s it! Thank you to everyone who stuck with me till the end! I can’t believe I wrote something this long and that I managed to keep to my weekly update schedule for most of it. I’ll probably write a few short fics in this universe because while I’m glad it’s finally finished, I did spend a lot of time with this AU, so I'm sure I’ll want to go back to it at some point.


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